Command Central
by trivector34
Summary: Bunseki Shiraseru was gifted a Quirk and thrown from his world into the world of superheroes. While trying to find his way back home, he also attends UA and adjusts to a completely different lifestyle. How hard can it be?
1. Chapter 1

**AN:** The first few chapters won't be that good, and they're only used to provide background information for the OC. The ideas for this story show up around Chapter 5, so if you want to start there, you won't miss much.

_Quirk: [unnamed]_

_Status: Hypothetical_

_Ability: Such a quirk would allow its user complete access to every bit of information that ever existed. Additional possible abilities include mind-reading if the user chooses to analyze the neurons in his target's head and illusions by moving objects and projecting images onto them. There is no known limit to this ability._

_-The Quirk Compendium: Any Quirks that Might Exist (Volume 19)_

I woke up with a horrible taste in my mouth and a blinding light in my eyes. Squinting, I read the time on the alarm clock: 2:34 AM.

It was hard enough to sleep. I simply didn't understand why it was so necessary that we would die without it. The problem had started a month ago. My mom wrapped up her work at around 1 in the morning only to find my reading in my room. She was furious.

"How will you pay attention in school if all you're doing at night is reading?" she scolded. "Go to bed now!" If I was lucky, she would slam the door before leaving me alone.

I was grateful that she didn't say anything else. However, I haven't been feeling tired at all. Even after sleeping at 10:30, I can get by with just three or four hours of sleep.

Going downstairs, I turned on the light. It was a knife that stabbed me in the eyes that were used to darkness all the time. The water spilling into the cup was amplified by the silence around me.

So, here I was sipping water when I should have been doing something more productive. I began to fall asleep- yes, finally!- when a bright flash of light blinded everything in view. Anyone who's ever looked at the sun directly can remember those blue streaks of light, the afterimages of what remained, staying in your vision for seconds after they had stopped looking. Now, I was sure that I would be seeing blue and purple tinges for the rest of my life.

"Wow." I heard a stifled laugh while still rubbing my eyes violently. "I didn't expect it to be that bad. Are you a shut-in?"

"Who the hell are you?" I shot back. My vision was better, and now I could see the stranger clearly. He seemed just like any other middle-aged man, except for the fact that his arms glowed slightly, his aura changing the appearance of the air around him. Around his fingers were several studded rings. Their colors fluctuated between shades of blue and purple. I can't describe his face. I just couldn't bring myself to look at him. Still, if I saw a picture, I would definitely recognize him.

"I can't tell you that," he said maddeningly while pouring the breakfast cereal that I was supposed to eat. "I've come to talk." He snapped his fingers and extinguished the lights in the room. He gave me some time to regain my senses. A glowing sphere appeared out of thin air and projected an image of a city. I later recognized it as Tokyo.

"This is Tokyo, correct?" he said, confirming my suspicions. I nodded, and he snapped his fingers again. "Take a closer look." The image zoomed in closer and closer until you could see actual people walking on the street. I thought it was just like any other city. Businessmen walked briskly to their cookie-cutter office buildings, anxious to start another day of work. Children ran to school clutching their backpacks. Parents took their children to the park; they weren't old enough for school yet.

The figure seemed to read my mind. "Maybe you need some more time. Take a closer look." I was annoyed. I could only find those _normal _people. I was about to give up my search when I finally saw it in the corner. A girl about my age was barely containing the blast of air about to come from her hands. A few people around her only seemed to glance at her for a moment before returning to their usual activities.

"Okay, took you long enough." He took off his semblance of helpfulness. "What you just saw was a Quirk. It basically gives the user a unique, supernatural ability. This photo was taken fifty years ago, when the first quirks started to appear on Earth."

He snapped his fingers yet again. The building themselves had remained unchanged. but what surprised me most were the people. Two kids laughed and ran around. One sported a large set of wings while the other glided effortlessly on the ground. A mother stopped her child from being hit by a car by holding out her hand and stopping him in midair. At a restaurant, a cook with eight arms worked in a frenzy, passing out orders, putting food in the oven, and generally doing whatever he could to stem the flow of customers.

Several people stood out, however. One blonde in a superhero costume grinned his muscles while everyone watched. His muscles were huge; steroids couldn't achieve the same effect as he did. As I continued to look at him, I felt a little safer and almost forgot about the intruder in my house.

"That's All Might." He interrupted my stream of thoughts. "He's a Pro Hero. After the first wave of Quirks, criminals delighted at their newfound abilities began terrorizing other people. The regular police did what they could, but Pro Heroes filled the void. They became the guardians of the citizens by eliminating villains who misused their Quirks. In short, Tokyo looked much more chaotic when the first few Quirks arose."

Okay.

That was a lot of information to take in. "You're mistaken." I said. "No one here has abilities of any kind. Even if you did have a Quirk, as you called it, you would probably be hunted and thrown in a mental health facility or a jail. Why are you telling me all of this? Superheroes don't exist."

A silence fell across the room. I noticed that his face was finally rid of its usual smug grin. His eyes seemed to twitch and he sighed, probably trying to make me understand.

"This world is falling apart. I know it will happen, but I don't know when. The heroes know best, but they don't know everything. I need you to make this happen." He looked several years older, more serious than I had ever seen him. I couldn't read minds yet, but I knew enough to see that he really wanted me to do this. "Just give it enough time and you'll understand."

"If you don't believe me..." He seemed to concentrate for awhile before creating a portal. It wasn't like the ones I had seen in the movies. It was a single white orb hanging in midair, and to be honest, it was kind of pathetic.

"Anyway, you will now receive your own Quirk." He walked over to me, and in my sleep-deprived state, I didn't react fast enough. His hands glowed with more strength, and I felt like I had just received a shot. A strange sensation radiated in waves from my arm, like several invisible hands were stroking it.

"What did you do to me?" I almost screamed. _How come my parents haven't noticed yet? _I looked at my arm. It was still the same arm that I had used for my entire life. He calmly looked at the clock on the wall while counting: five, four, three, two, one...

"Wait." It was his turn to be confused. "It should have happened." I barely told him that the clock was a bit fast when I was hit by a splitting pain.

I crumpled to the floor, clutching my head and trying to do anything to stop the needles poking into my brain. My vision blurred in and out of focus and I was dimly aware of him kneeling next to me to see that I was okay. I tried to make out the words coming from his mouth.

_Okay, stay with me._

"How can I?" I growled.

_This is the first stage. Your brain is being rewired as I speak. The human brain has 100 billion neurons and about a trillion synapses- these are the connections between them. In order to process the information that you will be hit with, the neurons are firing over and over again to become more efficient. Your memory will be better and so will your thinking capacity._

I could barely breathe when suddenly, I was fine. I looked around. Nothing was different. I opened my mouth to speak when a second wave made me crumple to the floor again.

_Your nervous system extends throughout your entire body. All of them are connected to the spinal cord._

He was right. My back burned as if a million fire ants had decided to bite it at once. I gasped as my hands suddenly began to twitch faster than I had ever seen them before. This feeling eventually extended to my entire body, which was writhing on the floor.

_At any given moment, your neurons fire 80 times a second. During a seizure, they fire at about 500 times a second. Your neurons, however, are firing at ten thousand times a second. It's giving you faster reaction time and possibly better strength. (Actually I don't know about that, you'll need to figure this out.) That's why your hands are twitching. This phase will end in ten seconds._

I regained my senses after those ten long seconds. I was much more alert even with the three hours of sleep I had. My hands clenched and unclenched, and I felt supernatural for the first time. "Hey, is this over yet-"

_Try not to lose your mind. I'll be watching if you need help._

A wall of numbers pushed against my eyes. Until then, I hadn't realized it, but we are surrounded by data in the form of checkbooks and computers. The world already has zettabytes worth of data. That's one followed by twenty-one zeroes. In each passing second, every click or purchase we make adds to this giant total, a rate if 250 quintillion bytes a day. (That's 250 followed by 18 zeroes.) In fact, 90% of all data that exists has been created in the last two years. Now, I have access to all of it, and I don't understand how to use it.

It took a while for the symbols to stop bothering me.

"You okay?" he said. "I was beginning to think that you had gone insane."

"Yeah," I replied. I looked at the ceiling. Without thinking, the letters and numbers appeared again.

_[LED Lightbulb]_

_[Serial number: 17364638]_

_[Output: 75 watts]_

_[Manufactured: Jiangnan, China]_

"Well, that settles it." He clapped his hands. [_Sound detected: 45 decibels]_ "It's time to go. I'll give you a while to look around."

"What?" I said. The portal that had almost been forgotten by the installation of my quirk began to warble, a stream of random, fast-paced notes. The white center began to grow and expand. The nothingness ate everything it touched. I grabbed onto the table [_manufactured_ _in_ _Hanoi_, _Vietnam]_ as I was slowly drawn to it.

"The coordinates aren't exact. I haven't transported someone in a while." The notes began to ring out louder and louder, and he had to shout to be heard. "Be careful where you land!"

"Wait!" I began to lose my grip on the table, so I grabbed random objects instead, hoping that would anchor me to the ground. "What about my family? What about school? How will I survive? I want answers!"

The last I saw of my home was a messy table and a grinning man before I fell into nothingness. Inside, I felt pure weightlessness. My arms tried to grab onto the things that it couldn't touch. My eyes could only see white. This soon faded away into the usual blue-tinged sky as I regained the feeling of gravity.

I didn't have much to fall, but I collapsed on the ground, too stunned to think.

"Hey kid." Someone (probably with a Quirk) pulled me up by my shirt with surprising strength. "Watch where you're going."

A quick glance around me told me that this was not the normal Japan that I was used to. Just like that weird man's globe, people were using their Quirks freely without fear of prosecution. I stood there, stunned. I could speak and read Japanese okay, but my parents took care of most of the speaking. I was on my own now.

Here goes nothing.


	2. Chapter 2

Now having regained my senses, I looked around the street to find out that I was feeling hungry.

_[Tokyo Bakery]_

_[Mean price: 650 yen]_

_[Lowest price: 200 yen]_

_[Highest price: 15000 yen]_

_[Optimizing calorie-to-price-ratio...]_

"That's interesting," I mumbled. I had already began making my way across the street, pointedly looking both ways to make sure I wasn't hit by a runaway car or some guy misusing his Quirk. The bell at the top rang as I entered the small shop, and I forgot about all the noise outside. It was just your ordinary place that you could buy coffee or a few snacks from. A lady appeared out of thin air before calmly placing her order. Another saw the owner struggling to light the fire in the oven and rekindled it for him.

_[Recommended food: sugary bread (600 calories out of 1350 necessary)]_

I stepped over to the counter. The shop owner immediately stopped juggling dough, sugar, and several other ingredients. "Hello, what would you like to order?"

"I'll have the sugary bread, please," I said. _Thanks, Quirk._

"That will be 2000 yen." He waited as I rummaged through my pockets. All I found was a used tissue and fifty cents. That's only 50 yen, and I didn't want him to know that I was a foreigner.

"I'm sorry, I'll check my wallet." I didn't have one, but I knelt down and jingled the two quarters in my hands over and over, a meaningless process. The sugary bread was too close for comfort. I could have broken the glass, and all that would give me were two pieces of sugary bread that would barely last me through lunch and a comfy spot in jail.

As I walked back onto the street, I scanned the streets for change. _How am I supposed to be a damn hero when I can't even feed myself?_ I was snapped back into the real world when I saw a little girl crying. Her clothes were dirty and torn, and her shoes were broken in several spots. I saw a random passerby think, _Somebody help her!_ before quickly walking past her.

"If you won't do it, I will," I whispered. I squatted down to her level and asked her what was wrong.

"I c-can't find my p-p-parents," she managed to stutter.

"That's okay. Come on, I'll help you, okay?" She grabbed my leg and my field of vision was surrounded by other data. All I saw were names, birthdays, ages, and the like. That's how I figured out who she was, and my brain was keeping a running tally of who she might know; parents, friends, other relatives, and teachers. My train of thought was interrupted with a scream.

"HEY!" A woman was running towards me, her purse dangling to her side forgotten. Flecks of spit flew out of her mouth as she yelled, "Get away from my daughter, you creep!" The girl immediately ran over to join her, and I put two and two together. _Shit._

The crowd around me murmured, and I could catch phrases such as "pervert" and "degenerate." I began to panic. My Quirk as far as I could tell didn't enhance my physical abilities that much. At that moment, a new set of numbers appeared over everyone. I looked at the mother.

_[Attack probability: 37.6%]_

_[Velocity: 0.0 m/s]_

I squinted and saw her making a phone call, still screaming.

_[WARNING- 119 dialed]_

_[Proximity alert: 500 meters]_

_[Time until capture: 0:30]_

Yeah, I was screwed. I ran as fast as I could, pushing everyone in my line of sight. It didn't help that the 'proximity alert' message was permanently stuck as far as I could see. People made several attempts to grab me. In desperation, I tore off chunks of sugary bread and hurled them at observers. I ran through parks and through the road, aggravating several drivers. Several people were startled and either dropped their snacks, their phones, or in one case, almost a young child. I had been cussed out too many times to count.

My legs hurt too much to keep running, and I slowed down. I thought I was in the clear, but that wasn't the case.

_[Proximity alert: 30 meters]_

_[Time until capture: 0:01]_

"You've gotta be kidding me." I turned around to see a policeman flashing his shiny badge, literally gliding across the pavement.

_[Agent Shirohara]_

_[Quirk: Slip and Slide]_

_[Allows user to slide on any flat surface without any friction whatsoever.]_

"Stop right there!" Another agent with a fire hydrant for a head extended his arms, and I was hit with a giant wave of water. My vision was filled with bubbles, and I swung my arms frantically, trying to find the edge of the water.

_[Time until unconscious: 0:45]_

Holy shit, I was going to die. I saw the agent with his arms outstretched again as clearly as he could. He still appeared as a bluish-reddish blob, and wherever I swam, he directed more water in front of me. With a sinking feeling, I realized that I was trapped. My vision faded in and out, and the water had already muffled what sense of hearing I had.

_[Time until unconscious: 0:10]_

This was the end. My lungs were about to explode from holding in the oxygen, and I knew what was going to happen next. The veins and arteries would rupture, and I would be left in an even worse state. I was trapped. There was nothing I could do. My Quirk only served as a timer, ticking the seconds until I would pass away.

_[Time until unconscious: 0:03]_

I could barely think. My eyes had already started to close.

_[Time until unconscious: 0:02]_

"Please let it end already. I don't want to suffer anymore. Please. Please." I was dimly aware that I was still thinking, which meant that I was still alive.

_[Time until unconscious: 0:01]_

My vision suddenly went blank. The pains in my chest had stopped immediately and I was suddenly exposed to a bright light. I could see _him_ again after blinking like crazy. He looked disappointed. "Well, well, well." He paced in circles. "You're going to let me down like this? You've barely lasted twenty minutes."

"Wait." I looked around me. Everything was white to the point where I couldn't see where the horizon was. I tried using my Quirk, but to my dismay, it was disabled. "This isn't a dream or Heaven. Why am I not dead?"

"All right, so I see that you're getting the hang of your Quirk." He ignored my question completely. He was muttering to himself, but I could hear every word he said. It was infuriating knowing that in both worlds, I was helpless. "I'll bring you back. Find its true potential. That's all I can say."

"How?" The question seemed to fill up all the space in the void, and he stopped pacing for a moment. He looked at me, a melancholy expression on his face.

"You'll have to answer that question yourself." He started to walk in the distance. His figure was already beginning to shrink until all I could see of him was a black dot.

The white landscape slowly started to disintegrate. Geometric shapes appeared and folded in on themselves until the very spot where I was standing became unstable. I struggled to keep my balance until all I was hanging onto was a single slab of what used to exist. I could hear his voice surrounding me. _Don't give up. This is the last time I will help you for a while. Good luck._

_[Refreshing...]_

_[Time until unconscious: 0:45]_

I was back. I was angry at him for giving me this useless Quirk. I was angry at him for presenting me with a world to save when I couldn't save myself. I was angry at him just because I thought he looked stupid. Why did I even choose to be heroic in the first place- God, what was I thinking? I didn't realize I was crying until the temperature around my eyes rose by a couple degrees.

The density of concrete is 2400 kilograms per cubic meter, about 2.4 times that of water. It would make a great tool if I could use it. I was hoping to use the concrete to hide myself from view and continue to buy myself some more time. My lungs began to feel crushed again, but I barely noticed. My fingernails did nothing to pry the concrete slabs from the ground. I tried over and over again, the sound muffled by the water swirling around me. The police caught on, and I was being lifted from my only chance of escaping this fiasco. My brain began firing quicker than before, and I had to look at the data that I didn't need. The chemical composition of water? I learned that in grade school.

I tried to swipe to the ground and instead flung my arm towards the police. To my surprise, it wasn't just my hand that was pointed in their direction. The concrete slabs shot out of the ground and essentially became deadly fifteen-pound bullets. As soon I thought this, the bricks changed and actually appeared as giant bullets. It wasn't the matter changing, merely its looks.

There was no time to contemplate this. The water guy shielded his face from them, and the water bubble that I was surrounded in returned to the ground with a giant splash. I ran through the water again, and kept looking at my hands. Upon using this quirk, I felt a sense of euphoria, that I could do everything.

_[Proximity alert: 50 meters]_

_[Hostiles: 8]_

Okay, probably not everything. I focused at the ground, and a torrent of bricks were pried loose from the ground. They formed a wall which was unfortunately broken by a single punch from a hero with oversized hands. Focusing again, I directed the brick fragments at him. He had to flop on the ground to take cover while the fragments shredded someone's car behind him.

I looked behind me to see several more policemen running in my direction. Not knowing what to do, I created more structures. Concrete tiles became swords, ninja stars, and the like. Hell, if any weapon existed, I replicated it with those tiles.

A minute later, I was starting to feel tired again. I was running out of tiles to use, and the sidewalk looked as if a tornado violently ripped through it. When I couldn't use tiles, I tore branches off of trees, leafy arrows piercing through the air. I was fighting a hopeless battle with the same law enforcement that I was supposed to help.

The people, who I had ignored up to this point, suddenly gasped and pointed.

"It's All Might!" A kid was jumping up and down while his mother failed to grab his hand.

"Never fear, for I am here!" All Might's deep voice cut through the chaos and silenced everyone immediately. The policemen stopped their attacks. The water hero looked at me with an expression of pity. Here, I really didn't stand a chance.

All Might rounded on me. In real life, he was much taller and more intimidating than I expected. "You. What do you think you're doing?" He raised his fist and I braced myself for impact. It never came.

"Wait!" Someone was panting heavily and pointing at me. "I know this kid. He didn't have enough money to buy from my shop." I took a look and indeed recognized him as the owner of Tokyo Bakery.

"That doesn't matter!" a woman replied. "Look at the sidewalk! So much hard work ruined! Don't get me started on what he was going to do to the girl." Her friends chimed in, all saying some form of "I agree."

As for me, I had to sit down. Using a Quirk was much more taxing than I had planned. "I have to clear up a few things." I stared at the woman with as much hate as my eyes could convey.

"If anyone is in the wrong here, it's you. Don't act solely based on a rumor that you can't even identify. What made you think that I would hurt her?" There was no response. "Exactly. I haven't eaten in several hours, so I'll be on my way now."

This was a mistake. It hurt to put any weight on my arms. I guess it made sense, because I was swinging them around a lot just a few minutes ago. I tripped over the same concrete slab that I would've used and fell to the ground. The wind was knocked out of me, and I could feel rough hands picking me up and carrying me to the police car.


	3. Chapter 3

I couldn't believe it.

Within thirty minutes here, I had failed to commit theft, almost died, and how I was being sent to jail. Way to go, me.

My stomach grumbled again, this time loud enough to be heard over the chatter coming from the police radio. The driver merely grunted and tossed me a half-eaten sandwich from his bag. I looked at it in disgust.

_[Ingredients: White bread, ham, eggs]_

_[Calories: 400]_

Well, I couldn't expect too much from this. Escaping was no option either. The doors had two locks each, and trying to unlock one would make even more noise than my empty stomach.

"We're here." The driver unlocked my door with two very loud sets of keys. I had been absorbed in my thoughts and didn't clearly see where we were going.

The police station was much bigger than the ones I had seen at home. Giant steel pillars supported a sign labeled "Tokyo Police Station No. 12". (What? If this is so big, where are the other eleven?) If something wasn't made of steel, then it was reinforced concrete. The dull, cookie-cutter blocks drained the life out of the bustling city around them.

Passing through the front gates, I felt a cold sensation pass through my body, and I was slapped on the wrist with a clear bracelet. I quickly turned my head to see what it the gate.

_[Quirk-proof Barrier]_

_[This invisible barrier has been tested to remove up to 75% of a Quirk's potency. It works best on long-rang emitter Quirks and doesn't affect mutant Quirks at all. Further research is necessary for more information.]_

"Turn your head around, please." Another officer led me inside, and I was blown away.

To preserve comfort in the workplace, there weren't any cubicles at all. For a police station, everyone in there was relaxed. Someone used their air-bending Quirk to pass out papers, and the recipients grabbed hem while still spinning in their swivel chairs. For a dreary outside, everyone here looked pretty happy about it.

Along the farthest wall, there was a set of elevators, though no one bothered to use them. Two rookie agents raced each other to the top by blasting streams of water down below before they were yelled at and forced to clean up the mess. It seemed to me like the elevators were only used to transport stuff instead of people.

"Who thought that this was a good idea?!" A high-ranking officer was standing in the central plaza covered in dark soot. I went to take a closer look.

_[TNT-61]_

_[The scientists' 61th attempt to modify TNT to their needs. It is intended for quieter detonations and for less cleanup and collateral damage. This attempt resulted in failure.]_

"So this place also doubles up as a lab," I said.

"You're right. This is the 12th police station in Tokyo and it's pretty new, so not a lot of rules have been put in place yet." The officer escorting me was a lot nicer than the driver. "Crime rates have been holding steady for the last few months, but you never know. Me, I don't care that much. I'm just happy that I have good coworkers and a good job."

Someone else stopped us. "You're not supposed to be talking with prisoners. Officer Isobe, I will take him from here." Yeah, so much about the "good coworkers." Isobe looked at me and grimaced as an apology.

"Follow me. Be sure to keep up." I identified him as Isobe's boss. No wonder he didn't dare talk back to him.

He took me through several corridors. With each passing step, the aura of the building changed. It didn't seem relaxed anymore. Steel beams jutted out of the walls awkwardly while the smell of dust lingered in the air.

I gleaned as much information as I could along the way.

_[Thermostat]_

_[Last installed: 316 days ago]_

The bracelet that I had been wearing to identify myself looked much newer, so I did the same analysis.

_[ID Bracelet]_

_[Different color bracelets identify what type of person you are in the police station. White bands are given to suspects, blue bands are given to normal officers, red bands are given to high-ranking officers, and the most respectable members of the station don't require bracelets.]_

_[Last manufactured: 1 day ago]_

We soon walked into a door labeled "Unknown Suspects."

"Wait here." He just left me sitting there, no cuffs or anything else. I brought up a mental map of the building. The room I was in was on the negative first level, though I was too wrapped up in my analysis to notice.

_[Probability of escape: 0.03%]_

_[Hostiles: 505]_

Yikes. I couldn't fend off eight people to begin with. I was finally distracted from these thoughts when someone entered the room.

"I'm General Yoshio." He sat down at his desk and looked at me with a penetrating stare. He was already 6'3'' and his fists looked like they could punch me through the wall of his office, the neighboring office, and the office after that.

"Normally we would ask you what you had done wrong or why, but we don't know you. You are required by law to provide a DNA sample for us."

All I had to do was to take a swab from the inside of my mouth. No hard questions yet.

"Okay, we can get started now. What's your name?"

"Bunseki Shiraseru." There was no reason to lie.

"How old are you?"

"I'm 14."

"Really? Why aren't you in school?"

I couldn't risk blowing my cover, so I uncomfortably sat there while thinking of what to say. "I'm not enrolled."

Before Yoshio could respond, another officer burst through the door. She wasn't Isobe. "You need to detain him. He was seen saying something suspicious to a little girl on the street."

_This again? _"I told you. I was helping her find her parents, and it just so happened that her mother found her. I did nothing wrong."

She squinted at me. "How do you know that you're not lying?"

"How do you know that I am?" I didn't want to explain it again. "You can ask her if you want. I can recognize her. I did nothing wrong."

The one-sided conversation lasted for ten more minutes before she (thank God) gave up.

"Well, that settles it then. You're not in any trouble. Now, why don't you call your parents?" The general handed me a phone, and I sighed. I dialed the number and waited, but no one responded. It made sense; my parents don't exist here.

"No one picked up."

"Don't you have friends or anyone else that could help you out?" He seemed concerned, but he didn't know the truth. Good.

"Do you have a registry of all citizens?" I pointed to his computer. "Look my name up."

I could hear his keytaps slowly becoming more agitated. "Your name isn't on the registry."

"That's why. According to everyone, I don't exist and neither do my parents. You asked me for my DNA, meaning your computer doesn't have that information. I know no one and no one knows me. I have nowhere to go."

"We'll figure that out." He handed me a small slip of paper. "You can contact me here. I've made arrangements with the school. You'll begin classes tomorrow."

I stepped out of the office feeling shook, even though I was fine. I still needed to find a place to sleep, and I needed money for food. While making my way to the exit, I pocketed several donuts from some unlucky person's table. _Sorry, I need that._

My brain calculated the distances to several apartments in the meantime.

_[Apartment Building No. 146]_

_[Distance: 1.9 miles]_

_[Estimated arrival: 45 minutes]_

Great. Now I'm a glorified version of Google Maps.

The police station didn't look so menacing when I left it. I could visit this place again without feeling afraid.

The best place to find accumulated change are ATMs, car wash machines, or even the ground. We're really good at forgetting things. Compared with your phone or laptop, you wouldn't even consider a nickel left behind in a restaurant table.

I found several vending machines at a busy intersection. I looked both ways before sticking my hand into the change area. I heard the clink of metal against metal and pulled out my profits: only 500 yen. That still wasn't enough to pay off the sugary bread from the bakery. Rinse and repeat several times and now my pocket consisted of two donuts, a business card, a used tissue, and enough money to buy dinner at a cheap restaurant.

There were even more vending machines to steal from, and my pockets became a bag of holding for 100 yen coins.

The apartment was small compared to my house. I was hit with a wave of homesickness before throwing that visual out of my head. The front gate was made out of metal, and I couldn't risk breaking it. Instead, I looked up and saw someone looking out on the balcony.

_[Resident: Imai Emi]_

"Take out your card, take out your card, take out your card..." I didn't want to stand out there forever.

I saw a tiny triangular shape poking out of her pocket.

_[Apartment Entry Card]_

_[Code: 2736]_

Nice. I punched in the code and the gate swung open.

All humans generate heat. That can be seen with infrared vision or through detecting motion. I can't exactly do either. I was planning on pressing my ears against the wall of each room to do this, but there was a better way. Each apartment building has a list of residents and room numbers. All I have to do is find which ones are empty. I scanned the list in several seconds. I have three options: room 413, 536, or 101.

The first attempt was a failure. Room 101 turned out to hold all the housekeeping supplies, so I took several towels and reminded myself to check again later. It appeared like all of the housekeeping staff were off duty at the moment.

I was almost caught going into Room 413. It was completely silent, but I opened the door on someone doing Quirk training. He was so absorbed in himself that he didn't notice when I closed the door _literally right in front of him._

_If this room doesn't work, I might have to steal someone_ else's. The door creaked loudly as I entered it. No one was there, so I quickly closed the door and dumped all usable items on the counter. After throwing the tissue in the trash, I had a grand total of two towels, General Yoshio's business card, and 30000 yen worth of change. Looking at the pile made me weak inside, like after all my efforts, this still wasn't enough to help me live.

There was no bed, but only the frame. I took the two towels and spread them out on the floor. The next thirty minutes was spent hauling towels from the first floor and filling up the frame. I checked the time: 3:45 PM. Most people were at work, so I wasn't caught.

Exhausted as hell, I sat upon the mountain of towels. I had already eaten the two donuts from earlier.

"Screw this, I'll worry about this later."

I went to sleep with an empty mind and an even emptier stomach.


	4. Chapter 4

The sun forced me awake. I checked the time: 8:23 AM.

"I'm going to be late."

_[Aldera Junior High]_

_[Distance: 1.6 miles]_

[Student_ hours: 8:30 to 16:00]_

I can't even run a mile in seven minutes and now this had to happen. Ignoring the dizzying pain in my head, I opened the door and ran down the steps three at a time. My feet pounded on the metal steps over and over again, becoming a sort of internal rhythm for me to focus on.

The gate opened with a crash. My Quirk had already given me a shortcut to the building. Several angry drivers honked at me as I ran through the streets. Street names and distances flashed wildly in my eyes as I ran as fast as I could.

_[Estimated arrival: 8:40]_

_I'm really that out of shape?_ My Quirk began looking for bikes, scooters, and other forms of transportation that might get me there faster. Most of them were either locked or only accessible through phones. I could probably hack them with enough time, so I made another mental note to come back to these places later. After 30 seconds of rapid searching, I found someone's bike leaning on a lamppost. Thank you, random citizen!

"Hey! Return my bike!" I didn't dare look back, and my legs straddled the ground as they desperately tried to find the pedals. _Just let me disappear already._ A confused noise escaped from my pursuer's mouth. I looked down for a second and realized with a shock that I had made the bike invisible instead of myself.

_[Estimated arrival: 8:31]_

_[Current time: 8:26]_

"Yeah, I've got time," I whispered to myself. My legs had already began to feel tired from pedaling so quickly, and I still wasn't sure if the person I stole the bike from was angry enough to chase me across several lanes of traffic. The bike had returned to its normal appearance once I had stopped concentrating on it.

I swerved a hard left and almost clipped the flowers off of a sidewalk display. People who were looking at their phones forgot what they were doing just to get out of the way, and I think my elbow might have launched someone's brand-new device into a pile of dirt. I was surprised that I was still keeping my balance. These brick tiles are kind of hard to bike on.

A truck's horn blared as I ignored the red light and streaked across a busy lane of traffic. My Quirk had calculated the speeds and directions of all the cars beforehand, saving me from getting thrown into the next building over. I was almost there.

_[Current time: 8:28]_

Aldera Junior High was one of only two schools in the Musutafu district. Even so, it was much bigger than my school at home. Giant stone gates surrounded the premises. The school itself was made out of the same material. All I could see were various shades of gray.

The schoolyard was filled with students all milling about. Within the grounds, people used their Quirks freely. I counted several cases of extendable limbs, a couple with mutant Quirks, and one kid who created explosions from the palms of his hands.

I was close enough to see the students clearly. I dimly wondered why none of them were in such a hurry as me. To see people with Quirks that were usable at actually getting places quickly annoyed me. A lot of heads turned my way, and there were even more eyes on me than when I was on the street.

At the gates, I stopped the bike abruptly, almost sending me flying across the pavement. I ran through the gates barely in time. Finally, my Quirk paid off! Then, I noticed a large sign right outside the door.

_Homeroom begins at 8:30. For the next 15 minutes, students can use this time for studies or spending time with friends._

_"_Are you fucking kidding me?!"

* * *

Izuku Midoriya was ready for another day at school.

His body still ached from the beating Bakugo had given him the day before. He was used to this kind of treatment ever since he was young, and he accepted that this was normal, that this was going to be a major part of his life. There wasn't much he could do about it, being Quirkless.

He vividly remembered the doctor's visit. He was about four years old, the time when most people manifest their Quirks. He anxiously waited for the doctor to reveal his results, to tell him what his Quirk was. The doctor pored over a mountain of reports: Quirks present in the family, blood tests, and X-rays. With one final glance, the doctor fully faced him.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Midoriya. Your son is Quirkless."

"What?" His mom was stunned.

"Do any of your family members have Quirks?" The doctor began taking notes on his clipboard.

"Well, his father can create small fires from his hands, and I can attract small objects." She picked up his All Might figure that had dropped to the floor. "Are you sure that he's Quirkless?"

The doctor only repeated the same thing. "People with Quirks have one less joint in their pinky toe. Their bodies have already adapted to be able to use their abilities. If you take a look at your son's foot, there are two joints. I'm sorry."

Ever since Izuku left the doctor's office, he couldn't stop crying. Tears poured down his face as he rewatched a video on his computer. All Might was seen heroically raising his fist, a villain incapacitated at his side. All the time, his mother kept crying and hugging him. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

It had been ten years since that memory, but Izuku only became more determined to reach his goals of becoming a Pro Hero. He kept detailed notebooks describing every aspect of other heroes' Quirks, hoping to use that knowledge in the future. That was why he would succeed. He would probably be beaten up again, but that didn't matter, as long as his goal was in sight.

* * *

I had already taken my seat when the bell rang. Watching the other students file in, I had another glimpse of the "normal" parts of society. My seat was in the front, unfortunately. No one wants to be in the front. It didn't help that I could hear the other students whispering about me.

"Isn't that a new kid? He wasn't here last week."

"Cool! I wonder what his Quirk is." I looked at them suddenly, which at least shut them up for a moment.

As the class begin, I saw everyone taking out their notebooks before realizing that I had no supplies of my own. Looking next to me, I saw a boy with messy green hair taking out several books as well as some colored pens.

_[Target: Izuku Midoriya]_

_[Quirk: None]_

_Man, that's gotta suck, _I thought. To him, I said, "I might have left my notebook at home today. Can I borrow one of yours?" He nodded, though he looked like he didn't expect anyone to talk with him. I gratefully accepted the book and started to take notes.

After going though one day in this bizzare new world, I forgot how boring school was. We were in math class, the same subject that I had learned to grasp easily. Though I already knew all the topics involved, the teacher's stern expression told the class that he didn't want to see any slackers. Instead of taking notes, I began to daydream. My notebook was slowiy filled with other people's information as a way to deal with the boredom.

I heard my name and snapped back to reality. "Shiraseru. _Shiraseru. _I expect you to pay attention when you ask me a question." I rubbed my eyes and looked at the board." The problem read, _If x^2 - 5x = 6, what is the sum of the possible values of x?_

"It's -5." I didn't even need scratch paper for that one.

"Yes, that's right. How did you get your answer?" His smile was uninviting, like he was waiting for me to fail.

"Move the 6 to the other side and factor to get (x - 6)(x + 1). Add the roots to get -5. You could also use Vieta's formulas. For any quadratic ax^2 + bx + c = 0, the sum of the roots will be -b/a and the product of the roots will be c/a." That was probably enough for the teacher to think I understood the topic, and I went to draw on my notebook again. The teacher scowled and continued to teach the class, and he pointedly ignored me every time he asked a question. I mean, if he didn't want to call on me, that was his problem.

I still didn't have a backpack yet, so I shoved my notebook in my jacket. As I was about to leave, a group of kids started to gang up on the green-haired boy. "Hey, Deku. Do you really think you can get into UA quirkless?" Sparks leapt from his hands.

_[Target: Katsuki Bakugo]_

_[Quirk: Explosions. They are created when he sweats nitroglycerin from the palms of his hands. He can detonate them at will and use ot for attack, defense, or maneuvering.]_

Midoriya backed up, afraid. "W-well... they got rid of that rule. I still have a chance..."

"Ha!" Bakugo laughed, a sound devoid of any humor. "You know, there is another way for you to be a hero." Midoriya looked at him, hopeful. "Take a swan dive off of the roof and pray that you'll be born with a Quirk in your next life!"

Midoriya didn't answer, and I was still standing there awkwardly. Bakugo and his goons walked out of the room, laughing.

"Does he bother you a lot?" I turned to Midoriya.

"No, he's usually like this." He didn't look at me, and he continued to throw things in his backpack. "I've known him since I was little. I don't know what I did to make him so angry, but that's just the way it is."

"Okay. See you tomorrow." I made a point to go back to the cafeteria and get a little more food for dinner. What was it with Midoriya and Bakugo? I remembered scanning Midoriya's backpack earlier. There was one notebook he didn't take out at all. _Come on, think._

The notebook appeared in my vision, and I mentally turned the pages. Every oage was filled with Quirk analysis. Strengths, weaknesses, special attacks- all of it was there. Even the illustrations were filled with the same level of detail. Even if I didn't get why Bakugo kept bullying Midoriya, I was impressed by Midoriya's commitment to his goal.

"I wish I could say the same for myself." The school gates were wide open, and I was planning on spending another day fishing coins from the vending machines. After turning a corner, I walked up to a fast-food place before suddenly hearing a loud crash.

I turned around. Signs and other debris had been carelessly thrown around, and the storm of trash was still raging on. People were screaming and running away from something. Then I saw fire. _Bakugo._

While looking for him, I found something else. A villain.

_[Target: Sludge Villain]_

_[Quirk: Flexible body completely made out of sewer sludge]_

_[Strength: Can't be defeated easily by punching or similar physical force]_

_[Weakness: Wind pressure or anything else that can blow it apart]_

I had seen enough villains in movies myself, but getting up and close to one is fucking terrifying. The heroes make it look easy to fight them, but that's only on the big screen. In real life, there are real consequences. People can get hurt. People can die. There is no such thing as a "main character' that will never be harmed in any way.

The heroes didn't seem to make much progress. One punched the sludge with all his strength, but the goo sucked in his arm and flung him aside. Another crew was putting out the fire, a two-man team bending water to stop the flames from spreading. I vividly recognized the one that I had faced before enrolling in school.

Other heroes that I didn't recognize right away tried to help. I looked again at the scene unfolding. There wasn't a lot of room for fighting without destroying the entire street.

"Out of the way!" Someone shoved me aside, running full speed towards disaster. _Midoriya? What are you doing here?_

_Okay. Remember. _A vivid image flashed in Midoriya's brain: one of the illustrations of the sludge villain. Taking a solid stance, he took off his backpack and threw it as hard as he could. "Leave them alone!" His voice shook as he saw his fellow classmates trapped.

The villain gurgled. "Hey, I think I remember you!" Midoriya ran like he had never ran before, dodging flaming pieces of debris. _What would a hero do? What would a hero do in a situation like this? _

My brain had begun analyzing everything again, even though I didn't want it to.

_[Midoriya: (0, 0, 0), -4.5 m/s]_

_[Villain: (-37, 5, 4), +0.1 m/s]_

I focused on Midoriya again.

_[Win probability: 13.7%]_

The probability of a successful attack is always changing. It depends on a lot of factors: mood of the attacker, strength of the opponent, even the previous meals they have eaten. The more pieces of data I have to compare, the more accurate my prediction is. I turned away, fully expecting Midoriya to be killed.

I heard gasps from the crowd and I looked closer. All Might?! When did he get here?

_[Win Probability: 87.5%]_

By looking at their mouths, I could guess what they were saying.

"Young Midoriya, I underestimated you. I was foolish. Heroes are always risking their lives ti protect others- that's the spirit of a real hero!" All Might threw the sludge into the air. A million questions ran through my head and I had no time to process them all.

"DETROIT SMASH!"

All Might pulled back his giant fist and struck. The sludge was no match for the insanely strong gust of wind. Even I could feel it, and I was a good 20 feet- I mean 6.5 meters- away. _Quirk won't even let me use the Imperial system, huh._

Now that the sludge was gone, it was time for cleanup. Bakugo, freed from his captor, started to walk away. "Hey, kid. With a Quirk like that, you could easily be a Pro Hero!"

"Knock it off!" Bakugo yelled before continuing to walk away.

Meanwhile, Midoriya was being chewed out. "It was stupid of you to just go barging in on heroes fighting! Be more careful next time!"

"Yes, sir." He glumly picked up his things. In all the chaos, All Might had mysteriously disappeared.

I stood there thoughtfully. Midoriya really wants to go on the Hero track, huh? I think I'll talk to him later and see what happens.


	5. Chapter 5

Over the next few days, I had settled into the rhythm of school again. I tried to convince the teachers to let me sit in the back, but it only worked after I had aced the tests. Before my Quirk, I had to study and hope the information would stick. Now, my Quirk can tell me the answer to every question. If I focused hard enough, everyone else's answer sheets appeared in my vision and I could pick from someone else to copy. All of the answers can appear on the paper layered on top of each other, and once the test is finished, I know everything from the lowest score to the standard deviation.

I found Midoriya at lunch. He was shunned away from everyone else, probably because he didn't have a Quirk. We made our way past the crowded lunch tables and into the hallway. We sat near several trash bins so we wouldn't be seen. Specifically, _I_ didn't want to be seen.

"Wah! How long have you been following me?" He spun around to see me holding a large plate of cafeteria food.

"One minute and 13 seconds." _And I didn't have to use my Quirk either._ "Why are you sitting here?" I asked just to make sure.

"So, what's your Quirk?" Midoriya asked.

"It doesn't have a name," I replied. "I can access all of the data in the world and project it onto objects that I can move with my mind. I can't use the projections consistently yet."

"Oh. So what do you know about me?"

I recited his family members, his address, his height and weight, and a bunch of other details that otherwise should have been kept secret. Upon seeing his shocked expression, I added, "It's okay to be Quirkless."

"No, it's not that. I'm used to people making fun of me for that for probably my whole life. I want to be just like All Might. You see him on the news, right? He saves people with a smile on his face, no matter how grim the situation is. That's why I want to be a hero. That's why I'm going to UA High." He looked calmer, that he had been waiting to tell someone else about this.

"Can you tell me how to get in?" I was more interested once I had a goal of my own.

"Sure..." He took a bite out of his sandwich. "There's a written exam and a practical exam. I don't know how I'll do in the practical exam, though."

It was nice just to have someone to talk to, and now I kind of knew what the glowing man wanted me to do. The world of my bedroom and insomnia was literally a universe away, and I was lost in my thoughts and memories.

"Hey. Hey!" Midoriya was getting my attention again. "Well... I still don't know your name."

"It's Bunseki Shiraseru. It was nice talking to you." The bell rang and we had to go to class again.

* * *

Midoriya went home again feeling a little better. After doing some sketching in his notebook, he had finished another hero profile to add to his already vast knowledge of heroes and their Quirks.

Along the deserted street, he asked All Might if he could be a hero despite being Quirkless. All Might said yes.

That meant the world to him. But it didn't stop there.

"I deem you worthy of my power. Your Quirk is mine to inherit."

No matter what happened, Midoriya couldn't stem the flow of tears coming from his eyes. Finally, his goal was possible. Finally. he wouldn't be ridiculed as much. Finally, he could be a hero.

"What if I do something wrong? What if I can't live up to your legacy?" Midoriya looked at his favorite hero in a way that he had never done before.

"I know you will." All Might's eyes narrowed, his small pupils seemingly penetrating into Midoriya's mind. "You, out of all people, chose to save that boy when we heroes stood idly by. You may be a Quirkless fanboy, but you acted like a hero that day."

From that moment on, every moment of his life was devoted to training. The schedule barely gave him room to sleep, but Midoriya didn't care, as long if that meant he would excel in the preliminary exam.

Every day at 4:30 AM, he forced his alarm clock off, dressed, and hurriedly ran to the beach.

"All Might!" His idol was here to help him train.

"Hello, young Midoriya! How are you feeling?" All Might's muscles flexed impressively as he waved to him.

"Great!" _About as great as five hours of sleep can be, _thought Midoriya.

"Okay then. We'll start over here." All Might pointed to a heap of trash that contained several heavy appliances. Different types of trash trained different muscle groups, which would be essential to Midoriya if he wanted to inherit All Might's Quirk. He shuddered as he remembered All Might's warning.

"Remember, my Quirk was passed on from someone else. Do you think I would get to be the symbol of peace without training? Absolutely not! If your body isn't prepared to harness One for All, your arms and legs would explode."

Months passed. Midoriya could feel stronger. Weights that he felt were impossible to carry once he began didn't seem that difficult anymore. While he was at home, he stuck to his meal plan and continued to take detailed notes for his hero analysis. Even at school, he clutched a grip strengthening device in his left hand.

One day, he was so tired that he felt that his heart and lungs were going to explode. He suddenly stopped pushing the truck and fell to the ground.

All Might clapped his hands twice. "What, you're going to give up that easily? Come on, let's get going."

"No matter how hard this is, I'll keep going." With great effort, he pulled himself up and began to push even harder.

"That's the spirit!" All Might laughed. "We can't rush progress here! You're already doing great!" He pulled out his phone and pointed at the screen. "This is you, two months ago, crying. Things have definitely changed, right?"

"Right."

* * *

UA High sounds like a nice school, and I've done my research. It is _insanely _hard to get into, even compared with some of the most demanding colleges. Out of 1000 applicants, only two get in.

Midoriya's advice stuck with me. He was Quirkless, and yet he had already done a lot more work to research Quirks than I did. I had to get moving.

The first thing I realized was that without adrenaline, I wasn't able to move heavy objects with my mind yet. The first part of my Quirk training was to slowly pick up bigger and heavier objects, starting with the pile of towels in my apartment. I concentrated hard and looked at them. It didn't budge. I removed one of them and tried again. There was no reaction. Rinse and repeat until there's only one towel left in the pile. Even after feeling the steady throbbing inside my skull, I could only move it across the counter before feeling exhausted.

With all my energy spent, I opened the window and looked at everyone passing by, letting the statistics wash over my eyes again. I spaced out again, and decided to stop when I looked at my room, completely confused.

Because I had lost my grip on my Quirk's control, illusions had started to appear on my room. They weren't structured at all; geometric shapes randomly floated around the table. When I blinked to focus on it again, they disappeared, though I wondered why they didn't manifest at school.

Another task, which was probably harder in other regards, was making my apartment feel less depressing. Using the data I had written down in my notebook from school, I found the best shops around town and bartered my way through every purchase. Tables, chairs, and furniture now filled my apartment. Even though I was the only person living there, it did make me feel less alone.

There were times when I didn't control my illusions properly in public, and I hated explaining my Quirk to other people. It was especially frustrating because after all this time, I still hadn't bothered to name it. After one particular sleepless night, my head rested on the palm of my hand and I started to daydream. I was woken up when people were shouting that people had appeared out of nowhere. I woke up and realized that I had created projections of my parents in front of my house. It was like a giant mural that extended across the wall of the classroom. I could understand the classmates' concern; there was no way to tell between the illusion and real life.

Things did get better, though. I discovered creative ways to use my telekinesis, mostly by accident. I could stand on a piece of wood and launch the wood forward, moving me where I wanted to go very quickly. (There's no way to do that to myself, though.)

Stealing is now a viable option for me, but if I use it, All Might would probably Delaware Smash me into next week. It still is a good exercise for moving small objects undetected, and I practiced it by using the same pieces of sugary bread that I could afford now.

I first used my Quirk in front of others intentionally by getting Bakugo to stop beating Midoriya into oblivion. "Leave him alone." I carefully approached him.

"What are you going to do about it, nerd? You're probably a Quirkless weakling like Deku here." Bakugo kept his hand pinned to Midoriya's throat.

"Katsuki Bakugo, I am telling you to drop it." He made a small noise in his throat, like he wasn't expecting me to know his first name. "There are better ways to solve your conflicts."

I tossed what appeared to be a book to Bakugo. When he tried to get a closer look, it was actually a cardboard box. "You damn nerd!" He roared, throwing a punch that was supposed to land on my face. I thought this out, and I had already made myself disappear. While I was walking away, I turned around and looked at the two of them.

"I don't know how you did it, but you have another friend now." Bakugo pushed Midoriya into the wall for one last time. "Be careful, Deku. You're still Quirkless trash."

This wasn't the best way to end the argument, but given the condition that Midoriya was in after most arguments, I considered ourselves lucky. I made a point to apologize with Midoriya afterwards. "It's fine, really!" He laughed and brushed it off like nothing happened.

"I've probably heard you say that over a thousand times already. Really, if you need help, just ask."

With a few weeks before the entrance exam, I was really getting nervous. I wasn't concerned about the written exam. As far as I cared, the statistical part of my Quirk was undetectable, and I could just cheat and pass. Learning was no problem for me; any new facts were transferred into my brain instantly so I could use it later. With little time, I did math problems over and over again to train my speed. This method could also be applied to people, where I looked at photographs to glean as much information as I could about them.

Out of the corner of my eye, a timer was ticking. _2__3 days, 21 hours, 16 minutes, 4 seconds until entrance exam._ I had ran out of things to do besides Quirk training, eating, or reorganizing stuff in my room. I couldn't wait until the exam; even if I failed, I could still go to another high school and still hopefully become a hero, just with slightly worse education.

Until then, I hoped that the exam would be easy.

Until then, I hoped that all the other entrants would have Quirks that would be easy to deal with.

Until then, I hoped that I didn't have to worry.

I was wrong.


	6. Chapter 6

Midoriya couldn't sleep. His mind was racing the night before the entrance exam. He remembered all of the grueling days of training. He remembered being so exhausted that he started to have trouble standing up at times. Most of all, he remembered All Might sticking by him, always giving him words of encouragement to push harder, to go beyond. There was no way he could fail now. There was absolutely no way.

He finally fell asleep around 2 in the morning, his dreams interrupted by villains tracking his every move, students with Quirks that made them invincible, and a crowd of people pointing and laughing at his goal of attending UA.

His alarm clock woke him up only three hours later. He was annoyed until he remembered that this would be has last meeting with All Might before the entrance exam. Grabbing his backpack, he fumbled to put his shoes on and scrambled out the door.

The waves lapped along the coast, only interrupted by the piles of trash that still remained after months of hard work. This was the final day; he didn't want to see it. He strained as he pushed increasingly heavy appliances onto the already growing mound that he had set up with All Might. His ears soon adjusted to the sound of creaking metal against metal. He lost himself in the rhythm of work, losing all sense of time until he finally cleaned the entire coast.

All Might started to run towards the beach. "I'm late... Ah, Midoriya! Here... you are..."

Standing before All Might was a giant pile of trash that was easily twenty feet tall. He then looked at the beach, the sand creating an unnatural haze in his vision. It was a sharp contrast compared to the shades of gray that had existed almost a year ago.

"Young Midoriya, you've made great progress. Here's another picture of you, day 50. You could barely pull that washing machine. How about this one? Day 125. I think you almost passed out trying to move that truck."

"I know." Midoriya couldn't say much more. His muscles were screaming at him for a break.

"Well, it's that time of year. The entrance exam is today, correct?" Midoriya nodded. "I can't wait any longer." With that, All Might reached to his head and pulled out a single strand of gilden hair. It glowed in the early morning's light.

Midoriya inspected it from every angle, looking at it carefully. "Your hair? What do I do with it?"

"Right." All Might chuckled. "You eat it."

_What? "_Come again?"

"I'm going to transfer my Quirk to you. It only works if you ingest part of my genetic material. Now eat!" All Might clapped his hands. The sound echoed several times before Midoriya was ready. He grimaced, put it in his mouth, and swallowed.

"See, that wasn't so bad!" All Might said.

"Hold on." Midoriya looked at him. "I don't feel any different. Are you sure it works?"

"Yes, I'm sure. The effects should start kicking in-" All Might looked at his watch- "about two or three hours from now." All Might appeared much more aware about the time. "Good heavens! It's 6:15 already. You can't be late. Go!"

Midoriya didn't need to be told twice. Slinging his backpack on his shoulder, he ran.

* * *

The alarm clock jarred me awake. I checked the time: 6:15. It was time to go.

_[U. A. High School]_

_[Distance: 4.5 miles]_

I didn't have to rush this time. I looked up the information on the school's website. The testing site would provide pencils and other supplies, and I didn't have to inconvenience myself by bringing anything. I walked down the same set of metal steps for probably the millionth time in a row.

_[Flights of stairs climbed: 2983]_

_Thanks, I didn't need to know that._ I stepped outside. Ever since the few days before the exam, it seemed like everyone was using their Quirks in public, even more so than I had seen at first. I had returned back to last year, seeing feats of super-strength and super-speed passed off as normal. I snapped out of my trance and went to find a bike. The nearest one was several hundred meters away, and I didn't even need to pay to use it.

I recognized the school at once. It was even bigger than Aldera Junior High, but that was to be expected of the leading training facility for the next generation of heroes. Pictures alone couldn't describe the power that seemed to come from the building.

When I took a closer look, I saw the telltale golden letters "UA." The school was surrounded by a wall several meters thick. Looking more closely, I could see that it was made of an experimental mix of steel and concrete. These are probably the only two materials used to support Quirk-related buildings anyway, and I don't see why it's all that great when there are other alternatives.

At this point, I had walked to the front gates. I looked at all the other students, ready and focused for the exam. To my right, I noticed Midoriya and Bakugo again. _Glad they're not fighting again._

Everyone entered through several sets of double doors that were about as tall as a regular house. That's when I noticed the banner hanging from the ceiling: Good luck on your entrance exam!

I was struck with the same sense of awe when I walked inside. It was like the police station all over again. My Quirk counted everything: people, doors, windows, elevators, and pretty much everything else.

"Hi!" I realized that someone was talking to me. "Are you going to apply to UA?"

"Well, yeah..." I shuffled nervously on the spot.

"All of the applicants are going to attend the orientation in the auditorium. It's the second door to your left." She pointed in the direction of the auditorium, but I had already figured that out ahead of time.

I found a seat in the back so I wouldn't draw any attention. I watched as a bunch of high schoolers trickled in, bringing their dreams of becoming a hero. Midoriya actually sat down three rows in front of me.

_[Target: Izuku Midoriya]_

_[Heartrate: 156 BPM]_

_Yeah, he's nervous. _The chatter in the auditorium slowly started getting louder a nd louder. Everyone had different reactions to their stress. Some laughed harder and told more jokes. I noticed Bakugo creating explosions from his hands and telling other people to "fuck off." For me, my hands started to twitch impossibly fast.

"All right!" The sound pierced through my body and I flinched. I noticed someone speaking on the stage.

[_Target:_ _Present_ _Mic]_

_[Quirk: Voice]_

_[Description: Allows the user to amplify the volume of their voice to almost sonic levels. This quirk doesn't work well underground or through multiple layers of solid material.]_

I turned around and listened. "Are you ready?" He stretched out the last word like a radio host. I clapped quietly and quickly stopped when I saw that no one else was reacting.

"This year's group seems pretty mellow." He folded his arms and shrugged. "Here's how it works. All of you received a card when you walked in this morning. Look at that now."

My card told me that I would be in testing location B. For a second, I focused and brought up a mental map of the building. Each testing location has the same test, but the answer choices are in a different order. The answer key is located somewhere in the building, usually in the office of the Head Relations Officer. His job is to ensure that UA has a good public image, and that includes making sure that all students diligently take the test. I concentrated even harder until I had zoomed in on the actual room itself. My view panned across the room, looking at it from different angles to find the answer document. I was about to find it in the corner when-

"Okay, got all that? What are you waiting for, let's go!"

_Shit._ I filed out of the room along with everyone else and went to the testing room. From what I heard, it was a conference room that was modified to hold up to 100 students at once. I found my seat, scanned the instructions from the pile of papers on the desk, and focused again. It was easier finding the office once I knew where it was, and it only took a minute to find the answer document. Once all the answers were secure in my mind, I put them in the corner of my vision and started to bubble in the answers.

The proctor stood up. "You will have two hours to take the test. If you cheat, I will know. With that in mind, begin."

_I couldn't_ not_ cheat even if I wanted to,_ I thought. To divert the attention away from me, I only bubbled in an answer every minute or so. Meanwhile, the answers of all students appeared in the corner of my vision. It was unsettling to have as much power as a teacher when taking a test.

Two very painful hours later, I put down my pencil. The proctor snapped and was almost knocked over by a torrent of papers. "Thank you! Just exit through that door now!"

"Man, that was tough!" A blonde-haired boy was laughing. I noticed a black, lightning-shaped streak in his hair. "I'll be lucky if I get in!"

_[Target: Denki Kaminari]_

_[Quirk: Electrification]_

_[Description: Allows user to generate and cover himself in electricity. This Quirk is destructive and widespread in nature. If Kaminari overuses his Quirk, he is left without cognitive capabilities for one hour.]_

_[Score: 78%]_

_You'll definitely be lucky. _I heard that the next part would be a practical exam, but what exactly would we do? Hopefully we wouldn't go head to head with actual villains.

We ended up going back to the auditorium again to get an overview on the practical exam.

"Everyone's seated, right?" Present Mic's voice rang out loud and clear through the packed room. "Here's how the practical exam's going to work." He pressed a button.

"All of you will go to a fenced-off area about five square miles in area .It's totally safe. UA has funded the creation of the buildings, roads- everything." He pressed the button again.

"There will be robots to fight along the way. This test is designed to measure your capabilities and the handle you have on your Quirk." The slide revealed several robots. "Depending on the robot, you can gain one, two, or three points."

"But what's that, you ask? I forgot a type?" The last robot looked about twice as big as the rest. There was a single red eye glaring at us above several tons of painted metal. "That's a zero-pointer. You should probably avoid these."

Present Mic clapped his hands. "Well, good luck. Follow me!" We kept walking until we exited one of the doors. I already knew that there was a giant gate waiting for us, but I had no idea it would be that big. The stone reached up to the sky, blocking most of the light. I quickly searched for the robots, and they appeared as small dots in my vision.

"Three!" Everyone tensed, getting ready to run through the gates. I had started to form a plan.

"Two!" I saw Bakugo clenching his fists. There were small explosions that could be clearly heard through the crowd.

"One!" I started to collect debris from the ground. Dust, dirt, leftover metal- I needed all the help I could get.

"Go!"

Students flooded through the gate. I already put the first part of the plan in motion. I saw a copy of the robot blueprints. You don't necessarily need to destroy one, you need to disable the center of the neural network. That's all the way up in the head area, but that can be accessed through a wire on a panel close to the torso. You disable the wire, the robot thinks it's dead, and you collect the points.

The next step: make all the three-pointers invisible. There were about ten or so in easy reach, and I made them blend in with the environment. For the most part, no one noticed.

Except for one. Midoriya looked at me. "What are you doing?"

"None of your business. I ran over to the robot and found its control panel after holding onto it. It looked kind of weird, like I was trying to fly like a superhero but ended up like a sandwich instead.

I found the panel after a couple of tries. It took more effort to pry it off than I thought it would, but I soon jammed a couple wires and the robot fell woth me still on top of it.

_That's three already. _At this rate, I wouldn't end up getting in. So I tried something else. I looked at all of the busted up parts around me and focused so that they formed a vortex at my feet. The debris soon spun fast enough to lift me up into the air. Tentatively, I shifted the center of mass to the right. Sure enough, I moved to the right.

For the next few minutes, I found all of the three-pointers and got rid of them soon enough. If I didn't disable them, I could always throw some of the debris from my spinning funnel cloud. If I was running out of debris, I could always find more on the ground from the other competitors' attempts at gaining points.

I was being cornered by a two-pointer and was about to get hit when a blast of energy tore it apart. Wires and sizzling chunks of metal flew outwards, and I shielded my eyes from the blast.

"Thanks for being my decoy!" I looked over and saw another blonde winking at me.

_[Target: Yuga Aoyama]_

_[Quirk: Navel Laser]_

_[Description: Allows the user to fire a laser from his or her belly button. This is quite effective, but prolonged use causes stomachaches.]_

I looked at his point total (38) and compared it to my own (42). I could keep this up when I suddenly heard the terrible sound of creaking metal. I looked over. It was an arena trap.

I ran away when I saw Midoriya just standing there. I wanted to tell him to run, but like him, I was rooted to the ground as well.

* * *

The arena trap was approaching. Every second he stood still meant a greater chance of getting crushed. Every single instinct told him to move, but he wouldn't. Not when that girl was still here.

Midoriya remembered his training. He clenched his fists and jumped.

Energy slowly started to build in his arm as he rose higher and higher. As he was level with the robot, he pulled back his fist. Red and orange veins appeared on his hand, pulsing violently.

"SMASH!"

A shockwave burst from the impact, sending a gust of wind that rustled through his his hair and shattered the windows of the building below. The robot itself had a giant dent where its face was supposed to be. With a final creak, the arena trap fell to the ground with a crash.

He now understood what it meant when All Might told him that he had acted like a hero. _I acted without thinking again, _he thought. All of these thoughts went away as soon as he started falling.

* * *

The zero-pointer was getting closer and closer, and all I could hope was for Midoriya to not die. He took a big leap and flew into the air. I saw the results of the punch.

_[Speed: 147 m/s]_

_[Force: 1.48 x 10^5 N]_

That's not possible without a Quirk. What happened in those nine momths of training? I squinted and looked at him.

[_Target_: _Izuku_ _Midoriya_]

[_Quirk: ]_

From the information I had, I simply couldn't tell whether Midoriya had a Quirk or whether he had trained to get that level of power. My screen kept glitching as I continued to find some sort of explanation.

_[Unknown Quirk (latent, 4%)]_

If that's only 4%, I don't want to know what that could do at full power. Midoriya, now exhausted from his punch, began to fall. Three of his limbs were broken: his legs from the jump and his right arm from the punch. I could hear his desperate screaming and almost turned away. I didn't wamt to see him break another limb.

However, that never happened. He was slapped and then suspended in midair. I noticed a girl with pink pads on her fingers breaking his fall with nothing but her mind.

_[Target: Ochako Uraraka]_

_[Quirk: Zero Gravity]_

_[Description: Allows the user to touch any object and cancel the effect of gravity, allowing them to float. The user cancels this effect by pressing the pads of his or her fingertips together. Overuse of this Quirk might cause dizziness, nausea, and/or vomiting.]_

Sure enough, Uraraka hurled on the pavement. Meanwhile,

Midoriya lay there, feebly stirring. People gasped and sighed in relief as a short woman came onto the scene.

"That's Recovery Girl, the spirit of UA." I overheard them whispering. "Look, she's saved him months of recovery time." She touched Midoriya. His legs and arm snapped back into place, like nothing ever happened.

I stood and watched as everyone slowly stopped using their Quirks. Everyone's test score and practical exam score were displayed in bright blue letters on top of their heads. I also saw my scores: (100%, 43)

That's going to be enough to qualify. I've had to use my Quirk in new ways today. I'll find another time to think about UA.


	7. Chapter 7

After a few days, I had walked in the apartment building with the stolen code again. Looking in my mailbox, I found an envelope marked with my name. These were the results. I wasn't worried, but my heart beat faster as I carried the document into my room.

I sat at my desk and ripped the envelope apart to find a grooved disc. I examined it carefully before it suddenly turned on. In front of me was a perfect holographic video. I saw All Might smiling at me.

"Greetings!" He waved a hand. "I'm All Might, the newest faculty member at UA!" Off-screen, someone whispered something to him, and his smile wavered. "What, I feel like I have to introduce myself..."

He cleared his throat. "As you might have figured out by now, this is your UA entrance exam results."

I actually started to listen now. I do know how many points everyone else earned, but that's not all. Even if I don't get in through this test, maybe there will be other ways to get in.

"First of all, you received a perfect score on the written portion of the test. I hope you understand how much of an accomplishment that is. Over the past ten years, this is the third perfect score we've graded."

I fidgeted uncomfortably, knowing full well I hadn't done anything in terms of written study.

"Now, let's talk about your performance on he practical test. You actually scored in the bottom half of all participants. If you need to know..."

"...the average score was a 56." I whispered the words as All Might did. Who could've gotten _above _56 anyway? My mind suddenly remembered seeing Bakugo creating the explosions from his hands right before the exam started. So maybe he was one of them.

"While I still haven't figured out what your strategy was, it was a very creative one. Congratulations! You're admitted. The term will begin tomorrow."

I let out the breath that I didn't know I had been holding. I honestly didn't know what to expect, but I'm in!

* * *

Midoriya was at home eating dinner when his mom suddenly let out a scream. "Izuku! The results are here!" She fumbled with the envelope, carrying it as if it might have been a bomb. Izuku fumbled with his chopsticks and picked it up while running to his room. His fingers started to shake as he held his only gateway to become the person he wanted to be.

In his haste, he dropped it with a clatter. The translucent blue center immediately blinked on to reveal a video. It was a perfect replica of one of UA's many conference rooms. Midoriya gasped.

"I'm All Might, the newest faculty member at UA!" All Might waved at him from the screen and Midoriya almost screamed.

"First off, you did well on your written exam. There's nothing else to say. You were obviously well prepared." All Might cleared his throat.

"However, you failed to earn any points during the practical exam."

_I know that,_ he thought. His hands gripped the chair even tighter and he bit his lip. _I'll never be a hero. That's what people have been telling me my whole life- my classmates, the doctor- _he felt a pang of anguish- _even Kacchan._

"Hm?" All Might turned to face the people off-screen. Izuku wiped away the tears from his face. "Oh, we have another report coming in."

The image changed from the room where All Might was presenting to someplace outside the school gates. Midoriya looked at the screen and recognized the girl. After a few seconds of thought, he realized that she was the one who had saved him from landing face first on the asphalt at full speed.

Her voice interrupted his thoughts. "No!" The red spots on her cheeks started to flush. "It's not fair! It doesn't matter how many points he's earned, that won't matter when you're a hero! He saved me that day. He's probably the only reason I'm here!" She stopped yelling to regain her composure. "Just... let him go to UA, okay?"

Izuku's mouth was still open as the screen switched back to All Might's conference room. "Well..." He seemed even more nervous. His smile was forced as he wiped the sweat away from his forehead. "That settles it then. Congratulations, young Midoriya. You'll start your first day tomorrow."

Turning away from the computer screen, Izuku began to cry again. His dreams of becoming a hero were finally possible. This was redemption for the last 14 years of abuse that he endured. Silently, his mother watched from the door, equally moved. She remembered that day ten years ago, when the doctor had told her son that he was Quirkless. She felt bad for apologizing to him. All of that could now be forgotten.

Izuku finally looked back at All Might, now giving him the thumbs up. His whisper was barely audible over the music playing from the disk. "Thank you."

* * *

The first thing I saw in the morning was a big _[__8:00]_ in my eyes. There was no need to rush, and I don't think anything else could be more exciting than the exam. Again, I took some unlucky passerby's bicycle to get to UA. I walked up to the metal gate and almost followed through before realizing that at this moment, I wasn't really a student yet. I would be treated like any other intruder. I stood there stupidly waiting for other people to show me what to do.

_[Target: Tenya Iida]_

_[Quirk: Engine]_

_[Description: User has engine-like calves with at least three gears. They are powered by orange juice.]_

I saw Iida simply walk through. _I can do the same thing, right?_ I stepped across the line and the sirens started blaring. I cupped my ears just in time to get out of the way of the closing gate. Everyone glared at me, and I disappeared. Under my camouflaged cloak, it was much easier to get inside. Only then had I found my temporary ID in my back pocket. I slapped my forehead and expected more stares before I realized that I was still invisible. Good.

Because of the delay that I had caused, I was actually the first person to go to class. This gave me time to analyze the Quirks of everyone else who entered through the tall door.

_[Target: Momo Yaoyozoru]_

_[Quirk: Creation]  
_

_[Description: User can create objects by using fat molecules stored in the body. This only works if the user knows the chemical composition of the object.]  
_

"What's going on?" Momo sat down at her seat, sighing. "We should've started class five minutes ago!"

"Some intruder tried to sneak into UA!" Iida pushed his glasses against his nose. "While he or she was never apprehended, this behavior is unacceptable!" He never realized that the "intruder" was already in the room.

"Ah, well." I looked at the door. It was Kaminari. He probably did well in the practical exam, considering he scored a 78 on the written test. "We got five extra minutes of break, so there's nothing wrong with that."

I found Midoriya sitting two seats to the left of me. "You came here early. How?"

"Shortcut." I took out my notebook to deliberately avoid eye contact with anyone else. By then, the majority of the class had already filed in. "Who's the teacher?"

"Sit down." Everyone looked at the door. In walked a man with long, matted hair. His eyes had the look of one: someone who simply didn't care about anything, or two: someone who was sleep deprived. He wore some sort of scarf around his neck, and something told me that it could be used for more than just an accessory. "I'm Shota Aizawa, the homeroom teacher. We'll skip normal orientation. Follow me."

I put my notebook back in my desk and followed everyone else outside. "What's the big deal about him?" I asked Midoriya.

"You don't know?" He was about to burst with excitement. "That's Eraser Head! He can erase the quirk of anyone simply by looking at them!" I confirmed this after taking a quick glance.

_[Target: Shota Aizawa]_

_[Hero name: Eraser Head]_

_[Quirk: Erasure]_

_[Description: Allows the user to nullify any Quirk by sight. This is deactivated when the user blinks. Excessive usage causes dry eyes, and Mutant Quirks are immune to erasure.]_

"I don't think I want to mess with him either." Now, I saw that we were in a field. We had exited the school through one of its many passages, and once again, I could see the gold-plated UA. The students began to line up in rows, and I copied what they were doing.

"Today, you will be taking a Quirk apprehension test. This is to assess your current abilities and your room for growth. Oh, be sure to do your best." His eyes locked onto Midoriya's. "If you come in last place, you'll be expelled." The last word sunk heavily into the air before he walked away and set up the equipment.

There were a total of eight tests. The first one was the 50-meter dash. This one was fun to watch. Before I could get lost in my thoughts again, I felt a gust of wind coming at me from the right. I looked at the finish line and saw Tenya Iida.

"3.04 seconds!" The automated voice called out the results.

_[Velocity: 51.29 km/h west]_

_There's no way I'll be able to compare with that._ Other people found creative ways to use their Quirks, and that got me thinking. I can manipulate objects, and I've only been thinking of doing that for large objects. We're surrounded by dust all the time as well. Maybe I can use that. Again, I was interrupted.

"Full speed!" Bakugo extended his arms behind him and created small explosions to propel him across the finish line. _[4.13 seconds]_ I noticed Midoriya panting after he had finished. _[7.02 seconds]_ I still hadn't figured out his Quirk yet.

"Your turn." I felt Bakugo pushing me from behind. As the 21st member of the class, I had to run by myself, and I hated it already.

The automated voice had already begun its process. "On your mark! Ready, set, go!"

In the three seconds I had to prepare, I created a large cloud of dust from behind and from below. As soon as time started, I lifted the dust, creating a powerful draft of air directed upwards to the finish line. Flailing my arms around, I was still in the air when I received my results. "5.16 seconds!"

After the impact, I brushed myself off, still wincing slightly. Hopefully I wouldn't have to beat myself up for seven more events. It was frustrating to not have that many physical applications to my Quirk. I didn't train grip strength at all, and out of all the participants, I scored close to last. _[49.8 kg]_

I was discouraged even more when I saw the repeated side steps. I looked at Midoriya and his face told me that he was feeling the same thing. I looked at the current participant.

_[Target: Minoru Mineta]_

_[Quirk: Pop Off]_

_[Description: The user can remove ball-shaped structures from his head and regrow them almost instantly. These structures are extremely sticky and are persistent in latching onto any surface. Abuse of this Quirk leads to bleeding.]_

During the standing long jump, I did better by using the same strategy in the 50-meter dash. Instead of manipulating the dust, I took out some of the sand and launched it at my back as hard as I could at a 45-degree angle. This time, I placed 10th out of 21. I was still in the clear. There were three other tests to take, but they were just like any fitness test that could be taken at a Quirkless school.

The final test was a ball throw. The sensor was facing a marked field with lines every 10 meters. We had to wait one by one, and that was even worse than what I had in mind. Uraraka was going to place first for sure. She touched the ball lightly and we all watched as the ball soared higher and higher into the sky. Aizawa held up the monitor. It said infinity, which was technically true. The sensing distance only reached up to 10 kilometers, and after Uraraka had thrown the ball, it had already reached the upper bounds of the atmosphere.

I had another idea to use when it was my turn. Before throwing the ball, I had snapped off sturdy branches from the trees surrounding the field and cloaked them so no one could see them. Now, once I had thrown the ball, I made them reappear, using each of them to keep on pushing the ball until I had run out of branches. I saw Aizawa's monitor: 683.5 meters. That's better than nothing.

Midoriya went last. I really wanted to see if he used his Quirk this time.

* * *

_This is it. My last opportunity to prove these people that I'm not worthless. _Midoriya tightly gripped the ball as he stepped up. He remembered one of the conversations he had with All Might. They had been standing at a railing by the beach after a long day of training.

_"There's only one way to use One for All." All Might threw his hands back. "You have to _feel_ it!"_

_"Um... can you be more specific?" _

_"You know what it's like to throw a punch?" All Might started to punch the air for emphasis._

_"Yeah, like a lot of broken bombs." Midoriya was still confused._

_"No!" All Might sounded more exasperated by the moment. "It's all about that rush you feel. You've used it already. What did it feel like?"_

_"Like an egg exploding inside a microwave!" _

_All Might almost choked. "Boring, but it works! Just remember that, okay? Control over One for All doesn't happen overnight. Keep trying and you'll get it."_

With one final glance, Midoriya prepared himself to throw the ball, even if he had to break his arms. He concentrated the energy into his right arm and threw as hard as he could. To his surprise, he didn't feel any of the pain. A few seconds later, the ball dropped. "36 meters!"

_What? No!_ Midoriya looked at his arm as if it was foreign, not part of his own body.

"That wasn't a rational decision." Aizawa looked at him coldly, his hair still floating in the air. "Were you planning on breaking your arms again? If so, then you can think again about coming to this school."

"No, I wasn't!" Midoriya had already realized that Aizawa had canceled out his Quirk.

"In the real world, it's worthless if you can only throw a single punch. With this power, there's no way you can become a hero." Aizawa stopped using his Quirk and stepped back. Meanwhile, Midoriya was trying not to break down on the spot. He clenched his fist and resolved himself to do whatever he could. He could still feel Aizawa's gaze on his back as he prepared himself to throw once more.

Midoriya pulled back his arm again, this time concentrating all the power in his right index finger. Using All Might's advice, he focused all his strength to launch the ball out of the field. "SMASH!"

The ball made tiny smoke rings in the air as it continued to soar. Aizawa almost smiled as he showed him the number on the monitor. "705.3 meters." Everyone was stunned. Shiraseru was nodding in encouragement. Bakugo was speechless. Turning to face the class, he smiled, biting his lip from the pain in his hand. "I can do this," he whispered to himself. "I can still become a hero."

* * *

Midoriya threw the ball. I don't know what Aizawa said to him, but it didn't look like he cared. I focused on his arm right before he was about to throw.

_[Unknown Quirk: 8% power]_

I just wished that I could see the Quirk for what it really was. I'll add this to the things I'll procrastinate on.


	8. Chapter 8

We received our test results back as soon as we finished. I scanned through all the names until I finally found mine.

**13\. Tsuyu Asui**

**14\. Bunseki Shiraseru**

**15\. Yuga Aoyama**

Fourteenth out of 21 people is still better than nothing. As I walked away, I noticed Midoriya's face. He wasn't shocked about coming in last place at all, and that was to be expected. His right index finger was completely wasted at the end of its throw. The skin was heavily bruised and the muscles had gone completely limp. What I didn't expect was his reaction. He steeled himself and clenched his right fist again, almost saying "I'll do better next time." I guess he had forgotten that the last place person would be expelled.

"Hey! Deku! How did you do that?" Bakugo made a few steps toward Midoriya before Aizawa extended his scarf to catch him. Now I understood its purpose.

_[Capturing Weapon]_

_[Description: This is a cloth made from steel wire alloy woven with nanofibers. It can immobilize targets and complements his Quirk.]_

After Bakugo was restrained, Aizawa let go and laughed. "I was kidding! All of you stay." Everyone's face had differing degrees of shock, but none more so than Midoriya himself. You could have told him that his house was burning down and he would still stay rooted to the spot.

"This was simply a rational decision to make sure you all tried your best." Aizawa gave a rare smile.

"Come on, guys." Momo folded her arms. "I was about to tell anyone. He really wouldn't expel anyone." _Yeah, you should've._ My arms had just finished recovering from my two not-so-elegant dives from the test. Aizawa gave everyone a small sheet of paper for every person when they left. It was a complete, detailed analysis of our Quirk's capabilities. I could've used my Quirk to do the same, but it still couldn't capture the scope that the sheet gave. I memorized the numbers before crumpling the paper and throwing it in the trash.

All hero-related things aside, UA is just like any other high school. There are six periods. My first is math. There's really no fun in doing that anymore, because I've already predicted two ways to solve the problem as soon as my paper hits the desk. Fortunately, Ectoplasm lets me help the other students. It gives me something to do, and I can meet more people.

The second period is English. I already speak English. You can guess how I spend my time there. Because I don't really like paying attention in school, the other classes pass by pretty quickly with the exception of Modern Art History, which is taught by Midnight.

"Wow," Mineta whispered. "She's hot!" I tapped his paper and letters immediately appeared on it. Mineta read it and gulped. _I will personally tell Bakugo to come over and kick you across Japan._ Meanwhile, I was already scratching out answers to the homework underneath my desk.

Everything was fine until my last class. I had already gone undetected for an entire day, and I didn't want to blow it. I already put myself at risk by taking a bathroom break. I spaced out until one of my illusions barely grazed my eye. Quickly, I slapped myself awake and went to my final class. The bell rang as soon as I took a step into the classroom. The teacher was reading a magazine.

"You're late. Detention." He didn't look up. I took a closer look at him.

_[Target: Gekido Takamoto]_

_[Hero Name: Ares]_

_[Quirk: Anger]_

_[Description: He can induce anger in other people by looking at them. The longer he looks at them, the stronger the effect is. This effect wears out anytime between 30 seconds and 20 minutes, but it depends on the emotional tendencies of the target.]_

_So that's probably why he doesn't directly look at anyone._ "But I stepped in just as the bell-"

"I don't want to hear excuses." His voice was cold and commanding. "Now sit down before you get detention for tomorrow." I sat down. No use arguing with that. I figured that maybe he was just a teacher who was focused on being punctual, and there was no problem there.

Ares stopped reading in the middle of class to answer a question.

_[Target: Eijiro Kirishima]_

_[Quirk: Hardening]_

_[Description: Allows him to harden any part of his body, giving it a rugged appearance. This gives him enhanced strength and stamina. However, the more he uses the Quirk, the harder it is to maintain his hardened state.]_

"Yeah... so I don't get what the author said here..." He pointed to a specific spot in the book. Ares grunted and started explaining. Meanwhile, I looked at my own paper and found my weakness. Anything that requires creative thinking is now a huge challenge to me, especially when it requires that I come up with my own interpretation of things. I squinted and tried to focus, but the only thing I saw were the inscriptions of other people's writing as an overlay. I stopped listening so I could paste all of the text into a new block in my vision, then constantly revising, cutting and pasting until I got something that slightly resembled an original essay.

Someone bumped my arm. "Shiraseru." I heard the same cold voice as I had earlier. "Pay attention."

"I already finished the essay-" I tried to explain. He cut me off. "The next time I see you not paying attention, you will receive detention. Is that clear?"

Kicking myself for not thinking of it earlier, I kept a transcript of what he was saying. I looked and saw several other students doing other stuff in my peripheral vision, though that probably shouldn't count. Their grades are among the highest in the class already.

"Shiraseru." This time, the voice had a more threatening edge to it. "I told you to pay attention. You now have detention for two days in a row." Ares' face was still hidden beneath his magazine. I couldn't stop myself from feeling angry already, so I let it out by creating small illusions throughout the room. Most of it was under my desk, and I could imagine the swirl of shapes that someone would have found.

After thirty long minutes, I was free. Or at least I thought it was. Still not looking directly at anyone, he ushered the rest of the class through the door. I thought I could sneak by him, but he held out a hand. "No. You stay."

"I'm extremely disappointed in your behavior in this class." At least he didn't sugarcoat it, because that meant I could spend less time in this room. Ares didn't let me interrupt him, but my mind was already a few steps ahead.

"You are slacking and not paying attention." _I finished the essay you told us to write, the damn _five-page_ one, in fifteen minutes. I admit I wasn't paying attention, but that's still not relevant._

"You are untrustworthy." _This is the first day of class and you've already assigned us a quiz. Though my grade isn't among the upper ranks, this is the _first day_ of class. The behavior of one day can't tell you everything you know about me._

He didn't let up until I heard his phone buzz. I checked the time: 4:30 PM. I was supposed to have gone home an hour earlier, and this was as good as getting a detention. He still wasn't looking in my eyes when he told me that I could leave.

* * *

Over the next few days, I quickly realized that Ares wouldn't be so quick to stop singling me out. Eventually, I found out a way to make a perfect illusion of myself. I asked Midoriya to take pictures of me, then I studied them again and again until the illusion looked exactly like myself.

I attended language arts in spirit only. I never talked. I never responded. I did the bare minimum of work that was required to pass, and that was fine by me. While I let the illusion take care of class, I spaced out in one of the bathrooms and was sure to rejoin the class by the time the bell rang. I slowly started to dread going to school, so I cut the illusion and stopped going to sixth period altogether. The only way to hold up my grade was to access his computer remotely and change my attendance.

Lunch is the only thing that's motivating me at this point. Today, I was so tired that instead of going up into the line, I brought the food to me. I guess I wasn't being as careful as I thought, because Lunch Rush made me pay. After fishing out some 100-yen coins from my pocket, I went to find an empty spot for myself.

"Hey! What are you doing by yourself?" I heard someone speak. _Just let me eat in peace._ "You know you have to pay, right?" _Sorry, force of habit._

I looked up. It was Midoriya, but I had no energy left to respond. "Eating."

"Huh?" I saw Tenya and Uraraka, who were probably going to sit with him.

"Ingesting substances in the solid form that we, members of the homo sapiens species, put into our bodies, where it is transformed into energy." I took a sip from my water. They looked at me.

"Yeah, eating." I closed my eyes. "Thanks for coming to visit me, but honestly, I need to be left alone right now." I looked at the top of Midoriya's lunch and projected a message. _Look inside your pocket._

Midoriya fumbled inside his pocket to find a piece of paper that read "something practical in Hero Course today." He smiled before finally leaving me alone.

I thought I was lying when I sent the message, but we really had a practical activity to do. I was sitting at my desk head down when I heard the door burst open. I saw All Might in his hero costume. "Here I am, coming through the door like a hero!" He spread his arms, and I heard gasps from the other students.

"Today, we're battling each other!" All Might pointed dramatically at the class.

"All right, combat training!" Bakugo slammed his fists together.

All Might then pointed at the walls, which immediately retracted and were fitted with rows of boxes. They were all labeled 1 to 20, because even though I was number 21, I guess they hadn't designed for a situation like that to happen. "One of the key things about being a hero is looking good! Here are your costumes that we provided based on the stuff you put on your entrance form."

_Costume?_ At this point, I realized that I wasn't paying attention when I was writing the information on the form. I looked back in my memory and looked at mine. I completely skipped the part that had dealt with my costume. After several long minutes, I noticed that everyone had suddenly put on their costumes and it was time to go outside.

Everyone's costume is fitted with gadgets to meet his or her preferences. Bakugo had giant grenade barrels for arms, which could possibly be useful for manipulating his explosions or simply knocking someone out. Tenya's costume looked a bit familiar until I pulled up an image of Ingenium. They were practically alike until I realized that Ingenium was his older brother.

"We're going to be participating on outdoor battles!" _Why does every sentence he speak have to be an exclamation?_ Questions started popping up out of nowhere.

"How much can we hurt the other team?"

"Are the losers going to be expelled?"

"How are the teams decided?"

I already found a tangible copy of the rules inside the building. I read them while All Might was reading them word for word. There are two teams: heroes and villains. The villains have hidden a nuclear weapon on a random floor of the building and the heroes have 15 minutes to stop them by making contact with the weapon. This shouldn't exactly be hard, because the weapon is literally twice as tall as Mezo Shoji, who could probably play in the NBA.

All Might drew two balls from a bag that he kept hidden somewhere. I already had a new line of text in my vision: _[Midoriya/Uraraka vs Bakugo/Iida]_

While the teams were fighting, the ones not participating waited inside. It was spacious, but my only complaint is that there are no chairs. People stood around while looking at the wall of screens in front of them. The first had a timer and the rest had security cameras that were linked to every corridor in the building. Compared to this, what I've seen at regular tech stores was nothing. I settled in and began to watch.

* * *

"Wow! It's a coincidence that we're teamed up together!" Midoriya suddenly felt much more nervous than he did before his turn at the Quirk Apprehension test. _I have to make a good impression on her!_

The two of them walked silently through the building. It was hard to tell where they were; the tiles on the walls and ceiling looked exactly the same. Midoriya didn't dare make a sound. Their first surprise came when Bakugo rounded the corner. He raised his hands and fired, sending the two backwards.

"Deku!" Midoriya still didn't look at her.

"It's okay. It's just my mask." He turned to face Bakugo. "I knew you would attack first." _I don't want to use One for All too early and incapacitate myself. Let's see how this goes._

Bakugo raised his fist and prepared to deliver a blow to Midoriya's chest. Midoriya anticipated this move and blocked his arm. Using Bakugo's momentum, he carried him over his shoulder and slammed him to the ground. _This wouldn't have been possible a year ago, _Midoriya thought. Bakugo had the wind knocked out of him as he bounced off of the ground.

* * *

This isn't going the way I expected.

Whatever Midoriya's training was, it's definitely helped him. I didn't see him much at the exam except for a few flashes here and there, and he was only looking for robots that weren't broken by other people. I focused and looked at the screen.

We saw Bakugo round the corner, making his way from one screen to the next. "I'll kill you, Deku!"

"What kind of a man jumps on someone else like that?" I heard Kirishima grumble.

"Well, that's still a viable strategy." All Might put his hand to his chin.

_[Target: Katsuki Bakugo]_

_[Arm speed: 6.7 m/s]_

_[Torque: 1.52 * 10^3 N * m]_

I turned to look at another screen.

_[Target: Izuku Midoriya]_

_[Arm speed: 4.5 m/s]_

_[Torque: 8.94 * 10^2 N * m]_

_Come on, you can do this._ Midoriya's hand followed the predicted path and slammed Bakugo to the ground. Even so, it was really impressive to watch. This was a level of hand-to-hand combat that I hadn't seen before.

* * *

Tenya started pacing around the fifth level. He started the drill fully expected to fight his peers head-on, but so far, nothing. He put a hand to his ear. "Bakugo? Are you there?" Silence.

"Bakugo! What are you doing? This is no time for radio silence! We're trying to work as a team!"

He waited for two minutes before giving up and guarding the weapon.

* * *

Bakugo stared angrily as Midoriya ran away. "What are you doing, Deku?" All was silent except for his heavy breathing. He turned off his radio; why should he have to depend on other people for his victory? He sat down as he replayed the same memories in his mind, over and over. Him falling off of the bridge, that temporary moment of confusion, and suddenly, Midoriya giving him his hand.

_"Are you okay?"_

He sent a ball of fire at the nearest door, knocking it over. _Are you telling me that Deku has been tricking me this entire time? He's a weakling. I don't need help from him. I don't need help from anyone._

Midoriya stopped running to form a plan. _At this rate, the fifteen minutes will be up before we know it. I trust Uraraka to go against Iida. Still, I have to face Kacchan before I can do that..._

He stopped muttering. Bakugo ran in front of him. "Guess what?" He had a nasty smile on his face. "I can convert the sweat on my palms to nitroglycerin. I'll use that to blow you up."

_Bakugo, stop! You'll kill him! _Bakugo ignored All Might's warning. "It'll be fine if he dodges, right?" He pulled the safety pin from his grenade. A wall of flame roared, eating everything in sight. Midoriya held up his hands, but that did nothing to stop the heat.

He was slammed into the wall. His costume was torn, and he still didn't want to use his Quirk. Vividly, he remembered that the same thing had happened ten years ago. Bakugo didn't have his friends to help him, but that didn't make him any less formidable. Puffs of flame burst from Bakugo's hands.

"Go to hell!" Using the full power of his grenades, Bakugo launched himself at Midoriya. _I can't dodge this now! _Midoriya threw a punch only to hit open air. Bakugo flew behind him and changed the trajectory of his blasts. The heat from the fire spread across Midoriya's back as he was thrown forward. He thought the pain would end, but Bakugo instead spun him around and launched him to the floor, just like Midoriya had done.

_There's no time..._

Midoriya brushed himself off. "Why?" Bakugo yelled. "You're worthless! Stop offering me your help!"

"Don't you get it?" Midoriya had never felt so helpless in his life. All Might and the other teachers could have been a mile away and he would be cooked by then. "I admire you! You're good at everything you do, and everyone's been praising you ever since your Quirk showed up! You're awesome, Kacchan!"

There was a slight pause as Bakugo stood speechless. Then, he ran at Midoriya faster than he had before. "That makes you an even bigger idiot, then. Come at me!" The fireball in his hand had already begun to grow.

Time slowed down as both heroes-in-training jumped at each other. They weren't aware that the other 18 members of the class were equally excited. Midoriya was dimly aware that the clock was still ticking, that there wasn't enough time to fight Bakugo any longer. Energy slowly built up in Midoriya's arm, and Bakugo prepared to retaliate.

"SMASH!"

Instead of aiming for Bakugo's face, a column of air flew upwards. It completely broke the ceiling and shattered whatever windows were left. Tiny pieces of debris began flying into the air. The blast was so strong that it kept on going past the roof. "Now, Uraraka!"

Uraraka and Tenya were now surrounded by flying pieces of glass and concrete. Uraraka took her chance and touched one of the support beams. It floated easily in midair. "Sorry, Iida!" Tenya was shocked as she flew across the room. His engines were useless, and he couldn't run fast enough to carry the weapon away.

Uraraka landed on the weapon with only twenty seconds left to spare. "We got it!"

Tenya crouched and put his hands over his head. "NO!"

Meanwhile, Midoriya lay on the floor, completely exhausted. "This is my power... I might not be able to fight anymore, but this is what I can do for now..." He closed his eyes and willed the pain away. Bakugo stood there speechless again and looked at his childhood friend. What had gotten into him?

* * *

This was one of the most exciting things I've ever seen in my time at UA. I stood in a corner by myself the entire time. Wherever I looked, numbers kept flashing fast and furious into my vision, recording attacks, blocks, speeds, and other things I didn't need. I saved this information for later and stopped hiding to join the discussion.

"The MVP of this exercise is Iida! Can anyone explain why?" All Might asked the question only to hear silence.

Momo spoke up, and I kind of spaced out again. It kind of does make sense, because Bakugo and Midoriya were busy fighting each other and Uraraka almost let her guard down. She's also from a family of respected heroes, which might explain why she placed 1st in the Quirk Apprehension test as well.

"You're right. Hurry up. We still have a lot of teams to go through!"


	9. Chapter 9

The rest of the matches were probably nowhere near as exciting as the first one, and I only used this time to gather information about my other classmates. Even if I didn't pay full attention, it let me appreciate the wide variety of Quirks that showed up.

_[Target: Shoto Todoroki]_

_[Quirk: Half-Cold, Half-Hot]_

_[Description: He creates fire from the left side of his body and ice from the right. This allows him to drastically change the temperature of any object. Because of its raw power, this grants him great mobility.]_

It came to no surprise that he had got in on recommendations. He simply froze the entire building. Shards of ice immediately begun to climb across walls, the ceiling, and anything it could touch. Against that, the "villains" had no chance. They simply stood there as Shoto calmly touched the weapon, it too covered in a thin layer of ice. Upon contact, the ice dissipated, leaving steam in its place. The match was over in less than a minute.

While the class looked at the screen amazed, I took a glance behind me. In my peripheral vision, Bakugo was struggling to hold his composure, and I could guess why. At his old school, I saw him bully Midoriya over and over again. With his crew constantly following him, he was one of the strongest in the school. At UA, he couldn't hold that title anymore.

_[Target: Hanta Sero]_

_[Quirk: Tape]_

_[Description: He shoots tape from his elbows, allowing him to capture enemies from a far distance. He can also easily create traps. The tape produced is slightly stronger than regular tape, and overuse of this Quirk results in dry skin.]_

Well, the part about traps certainly wasn't wrong. Sero, along with Kirishima, had already gave themselves a head start by creating a messy web of tape around the weapon. I closed my eyes and brought up a map of their building. On the same level as the weapon, Sero also put random balls of cellophane in unexpected locations. I waited for my turn and my spirits sunk lower and lower. These people have been using their Quirks ever since they were born. How can I compare to that?

One by one, the teams finished. For some reason, I wasn't picked to be on a team with someone else. All Might eventually noticed that I hadn't gone. "Wait..." He had to bend down for someone to whisper my name to him. "Shiraseru! Since you haven't had your turn yet, you will fight against a teacher instead!"

My face immediately changed from apathy to excitement to fear. The rest of the class seemed equally surprised.

"Wow, you're so lucky!" Midoriya pumped his fist in the air. "Good luck!"

_With the current luck I'm having, I might as well get tazed by Kaminari._ "Okay."

All Might took a new bag from some unknown location and rummaged his hands. I realized that since this was a pool of all the teachers in UA, then...

"NO!" I shouted without thinking. All Might stopped to look at me. "Not _him._" I was doing a terrible job at convincing All Might that this was a bad idea, but then again, anything would be better than what would happen now.

After a pause that seemed like forever, All Might finally drew a ball from the bag. "Ares! Come on up!" _Dammit._

I shakily took a few steps. "Which building?"

"Umm... we've used up all the buildings. Just reuse this one." All Might pointed to a random location. I recognized it as the building that Midoriya and Bakugo had fought in just an hour earlier. "I'll give you a few minutes before you begin."

"Is there anything wrong?" I could barely hear the voice over the pounding of my head. I slammed my eyes and ears shut as I tried not to think about what would happen. Ares has always had a grudge against me, but I wish I could figure out why. He's definitely going to carry this bias with him. Not only that, but he can make me mad without using his Quirk as well.

Someone tapped me on the shoulder. It was All Might. "It's going to be fine." He turned his head. "Ares, are you ready?" He was in full gear. Around his arms and chest was protective gear, which was understandable. He wore a pair of the darkest sunglasses I had ever seen; that way, he could look at people without having them be affected by his Quirk.

In my match, I had to play the villain. While waiting for Ares to show up, I quickly improvised my own costume. I didn't have glasses, but I put an illusion on the front of my face so that it would always glitch when you looked at it. My Quirk doesn't have any flashy capabilities, so this is fine for me. I also tried to mask the weapon's presence by blending it in with the wall behind it.

"Bunseki Shiraseru." I heard him before I saw him. I checked the timer in the corner of my eye: 1 minute and 43 seconds. That was pretty fast.

"Let's see if you are worthy of being a villain... or not." I couldn't close my eyes without risking the chance of Ares touching the weapon by mistake. I looked at him helplessly as he took off his sunglasses and stared at me with the full force of his power.

"I'm sorry." Ares gave me an expression of pity as a wave of anger started to flow through me. The illusions I created fell down, revealing the weapon's location. I held my hands to my head. The rational, thinking of my brain slowly began to shut down as I lost control of my Quirk.

Ares calmly walked up to the weapon. _Not so fast. _I held out my hand and moved it to the other end of the room. In my vision, the numbers had stopped glitching in and out, but most of my abilities had already been compromised. I looked at the timer again: _12 minutes, 43 seconds remaining._ I had to play keep-away until time ran out.

I thought that would be it, but the fight wasn't over. Ares started to talk now in that same infuriating voice that he used when giving me punishment. _Focus on something else. _I racked my brains for anything to distract me from his voice but came up empty.

"Not only are you a bad student, but you're a bad hero as well." Ares began his strill over to the weapon. I had to move it yet again. "I've had high expectations for all the students in my class. You fail to reach any of them."

My fingernails dug deep into the palm of my hand. His voice was stuck in my head, sounding like one of those awful text-to-speech devices. Debris in the room slowly gathered by my feet. It swirled around aimlessly.

"You're pathetic." Ares didn't let up. "What would your family think about you?"

I had a sudden flashback. Time seemed to rewind as I saw my life flashing by in reverse. I remembered attending Aldera Junior High, scavenging for spare change, my first encounter with the police- everything. Then, it went further. I vividly saw my living room table now, and I saw the strange man's smiling face as I tried to return to reality.

"There's nothing much to say here. You are a terrible person in all aspects of life. I bet you can't even win this simple challenge."

"Shut up." The debris began circling more violently. _No, no, no, no. I'm tilting. _

Ares laughed. Out of spite, I threw my arm forward, sending a flurry of dust and broken concrete. He laughed again; his protective gear probably anticipated attacks like this.

He continued to taunt me. He insulted my family, my clothes, my choices that I had made, and me as a person. I felt myself getting even angrier than ever before. Deep down, I knew this was a good strategy, but I wasn't letting him win. At one point, I broke one of the building's windows. The glass shards made a lot of noise as they scraped against each other, but I barely noticed. With a roar, I sent the shards spiraling towards Ares's face. He blocked with one of the pads on his arms, though I could tell he was making an effort to do so.

I checked the timer again: 8 minutes and 35 seconds. It felt as if the match had been going on for hours. At one point or another, I would tilt so far that Ares would have no problem getting control of the weapon. Ares knew this too. He took off his sunglasses and stared at me even harder. Before being affected, I saw the red pupils of his eyes glowing brighter.

This time, I couldn't resist. I fell to the floor. The numbers in my head started to go away as emotions started taking control. All Might started to speak. "Young Shiraseru, are you okay? I can stop the match if you want."

"I'm FINE!" I didn't mean to shout, but I felt a bit better. While still screaming, I ran at Ares to face him in hand-to-hand combat.

Seeing his stance, I knew I was no match for him. He didn't anticipate that I would run at him head-on, and he was momentarily stunned as I threw a fist. I didn't miss, and his head was thrown back by the force of the impact. My split-second advantage didn't help that much. He quickly recovered and jabbed me in the side.

_[Velocity: 5.6 m/s]  
_

It was my turn to be pushed back. I crumpled to the floor, out of breath. After that, there was no doubt that Ares was a trained professional. He started walking towards me with a new purpose. Before I could scramble to my feet, he picked me up woth surprising strength and sent a blow to my stomach, just like Bakugo had done earlier. I made sure to protect my head from the hard concrete floor, but the wind was still knocked out of me.

He looked at me in the eye for a third time. I didn't know how I could get any more furious, but apparently, it was possible. I roared and aimed my foot at his head. I missed, and Ares used the momentum of my leg to fling me at the wall. I barely noticed, but the entire time we were fighting, we were getting closer to the weapon. At a normal walking pace, Ares could easily reach the weapon in 20 seconds. I checked the timer again: 4 minutes and 17 seconds remaining.

I tried to move the weapon to the other end of the room again, but now that I was out of adrenaline, it moved slower than usual. Stress had taken its toll on me, and I felt it. My arms were heavy, my eyes started to blur, and I felt myself beginning to skip out of consciousness.

Ares knew he had won. He did a sort of moonwalk across the room, almost mocking me. He then made his mistake. He took off his glasses for the fourth time and mockingly grinned at me. "Don't want to lose now?"

At some point, you can't get any madder. It's impossible. I expected the rush of adrenaline and balled up my fists before I did anything stupid, but nothing came. I felt nothing. I thought about what Ares had just said. No, I didn't want to lose. I would have to regain control of my senses one at a time.

First, I created the biggest illusion that I've ever made. A black curtain seemed to drop across the room, extinguishing every source of light. Ares was taken aback. I looked at the timer again: 3 minutes and 2 seconds. As long as I stop him from noticing the weapon in that time, I'm good.

I then decided to use his own tactics against him. I lifted the curtain and made the weapon appear smaller. This can be done by taking an image of the object and scaling it down in your vision. Then, I created about a hundred copies of it. The tiny bombs were all scattered across the room. "Good luck finding the right one." I sat down in the corner as I felt my arms regaining strength.

I suddenly saw an alert in my vision. Ares was slowly starting to approach the right one. _Time to make this even harder._

With an effort, I flipped some of the fake weapons onto the ceiling. In fact, it wasn't just the weapons, but the position of the strong concrete columns had changed as well. I cycled between different positions every so often, but Ares was standing in the middle of it all, unsure of how to act. Meanwhile, the real weapon was still standing in the corner.

_[1 minute remaining.]_

It was my turn to taunt Ares. I snapped and all of the illusions suddenly disappeared. "What?" He looked around wildly until he finally spotted the real thing. With a sense of urgency, he ran at the weapon at a full sprint.

"Not so fast." I snapped again. The weapon appeared five feed behind his back. He made the same frantic turning motions as he did before. A split second before he was about to touch it, I did the same thing. This kept going until there were ten seconds left. Ares had been forced into the corner after missing the weapon for about the eighth time. "I'll give you ten seconds. Run."

Ares noticed the weapon. He had a crazed expression on his face as his feet pounded against the concrete floor. He stretched out a hand, but the buzzer had already rung loud and clear.

"The match is over!" All Might's voice boomed impressively from the speakers. "The villain wins!"

I sighed in relief and made my way out of the building. I didn't know if Ares could get mad, but I didn't want to find out either. I found an opening from one of the windows I broke. After looking outside, I saw that I was only on the third floor. I used the leftover glass from my attacks earlier and jumped. It slowed down my fall only slightly, but I'd rather take that than face Ares after his loss. After walking what I presumed was a safe distance away, I looked inside the building and saw Ares's outline. He was just standing there.

When I returned to the building with all the screens, I leaned against the railings.

"Impressive..." All Might put his hand to his chin. "I'm surprised that you managed to control yourself for that long." He turned to face the class, and I quickly rejoined my classmates. "That's it for today. You can go." With that, he sprinted away as fast as he could.

After fifth period, I ditched school. I didn't want to see Ares for the rest of the day. As I stood outside the gates, my thoughts started to wander about the issues that I had still kept in my head.

When did Midoriya get his Quirk? The first time I saw him, he was Quirkless. Quirks only manifest when people are four years old, but for me, that's not the case. Someone gave me my abilities. That probably means someone gave Midoriya a Quirk as well.

His Quirk is also very powerful from what I've seen. I can still remember the strong updraft of air from his match. I'd like to know _how _strong, but the truth is that I don't have enough information. Midoriya has only used his Quirk three or four times, and every time he's used it, he basically explodes.

The next problem is Ares. I still don't know what he has against me. For all I know, it's a mystery.


	10. Chapter 10

For the next few days, I had to lie low again. I asked All Might about Ares, just to be sure.

"I'll be honest with you." I managed to catch All Might once class was over. "I don't want to be in the same room as this guy."

"Why not?" His smile faltered a bit.

For some reason, I couldn't bring myself to speak. "I've gotten in trouble more times in his class than in any other. Also, I beat him at our combat training thing we did. When I looked back at the building, he was just standing there for some reason." I swallowed and tried to start again. "I'm attending his class in spirit only."

"We'll find some way to work this out. For now, go on to your next class."

As I walked out the door, I looked back again. "Don't tell Ares we had this conversation. Please."

The rest of the class was affected by the matches. They seemed to look at each other in a different light, now that they all knew what their Quirks were capable of. As expected, the rest of the classes were boring in comparison. Kaminari always didn't like English, but today, he flat out fell asleep as Present Mic was teaching.

Also, despite everything in the school that promotes students to be heroes, we did some basic stuff that every school should do. We picked a class representative. Of course, it was Iida's job. I can't see anyone else taking his place.

Weeks passed. I stopped counting a long time ago. I checked my grade in Ares's class, and it was a C; not the best, considering my work in other classes, but that's about the best I can hope for. In my head, I looked at the tab labeled "attendance." Everything was normal; I had done my editing correctly. Once in a while, I would almost run into him in the hallway. When that happened, I simply vanished until I was out of sight.

Something interesting finally happened. I was in Eraser Head's class with my head on the desk when the class's collective gasps jolted me awake. I managed to make out a few words before becoming fully awake.

"We're doing rescue training. Because of the facility's size, we'll have to travel there by bus." Aizawa's monotone voice was a sharp contrast to the excited looks that I saw around me.

The bus ride took about 30 minutes altogether. I wanted to take a nap, but it was kind of impossible to do that. I tried to vanish before realizing that Iida would cause a commotion. I sat there and listened to everyone talk. No one really talked to me except one.

"My Quirk allows me to harden any part of my body." Kirishima held up his arm. In an instant, the skin lost its usual texture and became rough and jagged. "It's not flashy though."

"I still think it's pretty cool!" Midoriya was excited. "Hey, what about Shiraseru?"

"Nope. Not flashy at all, unless you want me to recite the entire encyclopedia." I shrugged.

"Hey, what about those illusions you created against Ares?" Kirishima turned his head. "Can you do one of those?"

"Sure." I vanished on the spot, leaving my classmates to figure out where I went. I rested my head against my arm and was about to fall asleep when the bus jolted to a halt. I reappeared, reassuring the rest of my class.

We stopped at the USJ, the Unforeseen Simulation Joint. The entrance was a large blue gate that rivaled the size of UA's. As we walked inside the central plaza, I saw a bunch of concrete tiles similar to those in the building that I fought Ares in. Once everyone was inside, the gate swung closed with a crash. I took this time to see what this place was really like.

There are six zones. Each of them represent a different environment. For example, the fire zone is basically an entire city that is on fire, and the ruins zone is also a city, except it's one that's destroyed. We would each be assigned to a different zone to practice using our Quirks for rescue. That's when I heard someone speaking.

_[Target: Thirteen]_

_[Quirk: Black Hole]_

_[Description: The user's fingers have caps that can be taken off. Once the caps are removed, surrounding debris is immediately sucked inside and turned into dust.]_

Thirteen looked a lot like an astronaut. She wore what appeared to be a really puffy jacket and a helmet shaped like a dome. We couldn't see her face or anything that would give us clues as to her physical appearance except for two thin legs.

"As you have seen, your Quirks are powerful." Like Aizawa, no one talked when she spoke. "In some cases, they're too powerful. You've all seen my Quirk, Black Hole. I can suck up surrounding things and turn them into dust. If I'm not careful, I can possibly kill someone. Our goal today is to use another aspect of our Quirks. We're going to use them to rescue people."

"All right." Aizawa sounded bored. "Let's continue, shall we?"

He finished the sentence just as the lights in the building began to flicker. _No. This is definitely not part of training._ We all heard a swooshing sound, and we found the source. Near one of the water fountains, a giant portal opened up. This one was dark purple with its arms swirling counterclockwise. It wasn't like the white orb that brought me here in the first place.

I was even more surprised when _people_ started to come out.

_[Target: Tomura Shigaraki]_

_[Quirk: Decay]_

_[Description: If he uses all five fingers to touch an object, the object will begin to disintegrate, regardless of whether it is organic or not. This ability also spreads to things that he doesn't touch directly.]  
_

"Well, that's not good." I stopped moving. Tens of these dark portals began to appear all across the facility. A hundred villains clambered out of those portals and immediately readied themselves for battle. The students, myself included, were shocked.

"Thirteen, protect the students!" Eraser Head jumped into action.

A deep, booming voice soon followed. I found its source about ten feet away. "Not so fast."

_[Target: Kurogiri]_

_[Quirk: Warp Gate]_

_[Description: He can manipulate a dark fog around him and create portals from it. This Quirk is coordinate-based. In order to create an exit portal, he needs to know the exact location of where that exit is.]_

Kurogiri didn't hesitate to surround us, but I had already vanished and escaped from the rest of the class before the fog surrounded them. I used Kurogiri's fog to display a message: _It's me, Shiraseru. I've vanished and I'm heading out. I'll do my best to create illusions from here, but for now, stay safe._

From my current location, I could see Thirteen struggling to regain control. She used her Quirk to suck in Kurogiri's fog. The rest of the class watched anxiously as the black substance slowly started getting thinner and thinner.

"You fool." Kurogiri's voice had an edge to it that would give Ares's voice a run for its money. The fog reformed behind Thirteen. While the class shouted warnings, the noise made from Thirteen's Quirk was so loud that it was all we heard. Kurogiri immediately began sucking in Thirteen from behind. The mist dissipated while Thirteen lay there, her backpack broken. I looked away.

My illusions are only effective if I know what I'm changing the appearance of. On the ground, I can't do much, and the villains will figure out what's going on. I headed for the Mountain Zone. Tentatively. I attracted debris from everything in sight. Tiny grains of dust slowly made their way to the base of my feet.

I was slowly using my cushion to propel me to the top when I heard a shout. I looked at my arm and realized that I had forgotten to make myself invisible. I ignored whoever was speaking and pushed myself to the right of the mountain. Knowing they would search the air, I vanished and set myself in a position where I could see everyone.

Now that I was ready, I got to work. Everyone's vitals were condensed into little squares with their names on them. With a bit of focus, their names and outlines were shown when I looked at them.

I wasn't paying attention to what was happening at the entrance, so I looked up. Kurogiri swallowed everyone using bis fog. A telltale explosion told me that at least Bakugo was okay.

The heart rates of some students started to increase. Noticing their positions, I couldn't blame them. Kurogiri created various exit portals to split up the students. I kept track of them all.

Kaminari, Momo, and Jiro were at the base of the mountain, so I helped them first. I could barely hear them over all the commotion.

"There's too many of them!" Kaminari bared his fists (sorry, probably no use here) while Momo and Jiro used metal rods to fend off the villains. There was so much movement going on that it was hard to find an opening to send a message.

"You can shock people, right?" One low-level villain was sent flying by a well-aimed jab. "Why don't you do that right now?"

Kaminari shrugged. "I can't! If I do, I'll shock everyone, including you, and I don't want that to happen." _Should've thought about aiming gear.  
_

Momo pushed him aside. This person was easily seven feet tall with muscles the size of a person's head. Kaminari panicked and immediately covered himself with electricity. It was surprising seeing this 7-foot macho villain writhing in pain like that. "Hey, I'm actually strong! Thanks, guys!"

Now, I found my opening. Though Kaminari couldn't see it, Momo and Jiro would. On the body of the shocked villains, I wrote a message. _Don't tire yourselves out. I'll create a cover so you can get out of here. -Shiraseru_

"We don't need your help!" Jiro stomped her foot, letting me see her Quirk in action. Using the earbud-like extensions of her ears, she sent a blast of sound to the oncoming attackers. The wave of energy made them lose their balance, and they clapped their hands over their ears.

_[Target: Kyoka Jiro]_

_[Quirk: Earphone Jack]_

_[Description: Once her headphone jacks are plugged into something, she can channel the sound of her heartbeat through it amplified a hundred times. Because of this, she can also hear sounds that a normal human wouldn't.]_

I changed the message. _Okay, I get it. Now go._

This was the first time that I had to create an illusion on such a large scale, so I prepared for this. I remembered a scene from one of the books I had read and tried to take in every detail: the rooftops of the buildings, the broken streetlamps, the weeds growing in the sidewalk cracks- everything. Creating it slowly would give the villains an idea of what my Quirk was, and my only chance was to do it all at once. I closed my eyes, seeing the final product of my imagination, before snapping my fingers.

The people below gasped with shock, student and villain alike. I didn't expect my creation to be extremely realistic, but in fact, it was. What used to be mountain was now what appeared to be a deserted city street. Looking closer, I saw that I had done my job. While the outside of the buildings could be passed off as real-life creations, there was nothing inside. Everything here was just a shell.

To help my classmates out, I strategically placed a run-down car in front of them. Because I focused more on the buildings and other large-scale things, the car had less detail. Still, it was enough to do the job. I wrote a message to the students: _This should probably give you about 20 seconds or so._

With that out of the way, I went to help out some more people. After looking at my board, I saw that Kaminari, Momo, and Jiro had already made their way to the main student body, which was good. My next point of focus were the Squall and Fire Zones. I could switch their appearances and confuse a lot of people.

The Fire Zone had to go first. Only one student was there, and I needed to get him out before the villains caught him.

_[Target: Mashirao Ojiro]  
_

_[Quirk: Tail]_

_[Description: He has a long, sturdy tail that he can use in creative ways.]_

He was pretty good at using his tail. Ojiro swung around telephone poles to avoid the grasping hands of the villains. While this was a good strategy, I couldn't find an opening to communicate with him first.

_It's going to come as a shock to him, but I don't have a choice._ I kept the structure of the buildings the same. The fires from the buildings were hidden while all the smoke in the air were turned into waterspouts. Because it's kind of dark in the Fire Zone, I added some lighting as well. Once the image of the scene was firmly planted in my mind, I snapped.

Like I expected, everyone there was disoriented for a while, Ojiro probably even more so, because I didn't tell him about it beforehand. There was a giant cloud of smoke in front of him that appeared to gush water instantly, and I could understand his reaction. Now, I displayed my message. _This illusion is only temporary. Get yourself out of here and join the main student body. -Shiraseru_

"Okay." Ojiro used the villains' confusion to his advantage. While they were still scrambling and trying to comprehend how their environment could have changed so quickly, Ojiro slipped out.

The Squall Zone was a bit harder to switch out. I had no idea how to change the landscape, so I first looked at the two classmates already inside.

_[Target: Fumikage Tokoyami]_

_[Quirk: Dark Shadow]_

_[Description: This allows him to manifest a shadow monster from his body. The shadow is weaker in bright light; if all of Tokoyami's energy is used up, the shadow retracts into his body. While Dark Shadow is more powerful in the dark, Tokoyami has less control over it and it can go rogue.]_

The Squall Zone had the same level of brightness as the Fire Zone, but even so, Tokoyami already had a good handle over his Quirk. His shadow extended a large hand and crushed two villains into the wall. That allowed me to see the second classmate.

_[Target: Koji Koda]_

_[Quirk: Anivoice]_

_[Description: He can control animals by giving commands to them. His Quirk is restricted to animals only and not animal-like things.]_

_I'm sorry, but there's no animals_ _here._ The wave of villains wouldn't stop anytime soon, and I racked my brains trying to find a good cover for my classmates. Suddenly, I remembered Todoroki's attack on the building and decided to replicate that. Again, I shut my eyes firmly so I would make sure that I wouldn't make a mistake. I snapped my fingers yet again.

"What?" Tokoyami looked around. The heavy rainfall looked like it had been replaced by heavy snow instead. The run-down buildings were covered in a thin layer of ice, and large, shapeless crystals littered the ground. One of them actually managed to hit a villain, but fortunately, the gruesome sight had already been blanketed in snow.

"Hang on, something's not right." One of the thugs walked around until he saw a dark alleyway. I realized that this was one of the areas that I had forgot to cover. Now that I looked at it, I could clearly see the sharp transition between blizzard and rainstorm. He motioned for the other villains that hadn't been incapacitated to follow, and I took my chance. _Good job, guys. I didn't expect to get this far, but make your way to the exit. -Shiraseru_

"Where are you?" Tokoyami found no trace of me, which was to be expected. My hiding spot on the mountain was virtually undetectable.

_Don't worry about that now. The villains are soon going to notice the illusion and they will assume one of you did it, especially Koda._ Koda, despite his appearance, immediately started to sweat and signed something to Tokoyami. _He's right. Let's go._

Out of the three other zones left, I wasn't particularly concerned. In the Landslide Zone, Todoroki clearly had everything under control. By using the same tactic he used in combat training, he effectively stopped any other villains from making a move against him. Bakugo and Kirishima were in the Ruins Zone, but their Quirks are really powerful anyway. Every other student was either on their way or already at the main plaza... except for three.

* * *

"Oh my god, we're going to die!" Mineta scrambled back and forth on the deck, though no one paid any attention to him. Midoriya stood on the railings of the ship, which had already begun to sink. The creaking of metal was barely audible over the enemies that were slowly making their way to the ship.

"No." Midoriya gave Mineta a stern glance. "We'll have to figure this out ourselves."

"Mineta, why did you go to UA again?" Tsuyu looked calm as she too looked over the water.

"I thought it would be cool!" Mineta's voice slowly rose higher and higher. "We were in junior high a few days ago! How were we supposed to know that we would be killed?"

_I need to make a move quick._ Midoriya put a hand to his chin as he assessed his options. _All the villains are surrounding us in a circle, so I can't take out everyone in a single smash. I only have one chance.  
_

He raised a foot and put it on the railing. One of the villains chuckled. "He's just a kid. We can bring him to the water and finish him off there." He manipulated the water around him to form a hand with sharp claws. With a single point of his finger, the hand crushed the boat even further.

"The boat's going to sink in less than a minute! Get ready!" Tsuyu held Mineta as Midoriya jumped. A million thoughts ran through his mind. _Keep it under control. Keep it under control. Don't explode your arm._ He prepared his arm and clenched his teeth. "SMASH!"

The pain was completely overshadowed by adrenaline. The blast of air that emanated from his fingers relentlessly pushed against the water. A sinkhole emerged, bringing what was left of the boat and the villains into it.

Tsuyu had already jumped. Mineta, sensing that he could actually do something about the situation, threw as many balls from his head as he could. Midoriya felt himself falling and braced himself for the impact that would never come, and Tsuyu carried all three back to shore.

* * *

That was impressive to watch, but now that the students were safe, I had to focus on the ringleaders of the group. Shigaraki had so far done nothing, and Kurogiri was holding the students back. There were a few others that I couldn't identify or see right away. I needed to help the others, so I left. The panel with the vitals of all the students disappeared as I stood up and stretched. Knowing I was still invisible, I could safely make my way to the main student body. A few people screamed as I appeared out of nowhere, but I didn't pay attention to that.

Eraser Head was facing against one of the villains that I couldn't identify. From the looks of it, I don't even think he (or she) was human. It was covered with black skin and looked like a pro wrestler, only twice as tall and a million times stronger. When I saw his face, I noticed that he had a beak instead of a mouth and his brain was literally exposed to the open air. Eraser Head was _screwed._

Eraser Head tried to nullify his Quirk, but even without it, the villain severely outmatched him. I saw that Eraser Head's arm was cracked and bleeding as well. The skin cells near the wound were beginning to die off, and I knew who did it. Shigaraki had injured him, and the other villain was making matters worse.

The brainless villain grabbed his head and started beating the shit out of him. As vulgar as it sounds, there's no other way to put it. His visor miraculously remained on his head as the rest of his body was covered in bloody bruises. I tried throwing debris at the villain's back, but he barely noticed. We really needed more help to come.

While I was gone, the students took hold of Kurogiri, as I've heard. That gave Iida enough time to run and tell All Might. The heavy gate of the USJ opened, and we saw All Might. He wasn't smiling this time, and he was mad.

As All Might went to battle, I stopped myself from turning away like I usually did. I needed to see how powerful his Quirk was.

_[Unknown Quirk (96%)]_

_[Force: 8.56 x 10^8 N]_

These numbers were familiar. Where had I seen them before? I finally recalled that critical moment in the UA entrance exam when Midoriya took down one of those arena traps. Before I could do anything else, a particularly loud grunt snapped me back to reality.

I probably missed about three minutes worth of fighting, but now, I could see why All Might was professional. He matched every blow the villain made, and with that type of strength, it was unlikely he would tire out soon.

All Might threw a strong blow, but the villain was unfazed. Shigaraki was standing aside. "That's Shock Absorption. What do you think?"

_This is getting really bad now._ All Might must have been thinking the same thing, because he started rushing even faster. His punches used to look like blurs, but to the unaided eye, they were invisible.

_[Unknown Quirk (105%)]_

All Might was overclocking himself. He was bleeding out of his mouth, yet he still continued to fight. Wind was flying in our faces so fast that we were struggling to prevent ourselves from being blown away.

We heard a _wooosh. _All Might jumped, taking the villain with him. "Go beyond! PLUS ULTRA!"

_[Unknown Quirk (300%)]  
_  
With a burst of power, the villain was sent flying. He flew up into the air, breaking the supposedly blast-resistant windows and still heading out of sight. All Might sighed. The fight was over.

Today, I witnessed Pro Heroes' skill for the first time. Shigaraki saw that there was nothing else to be done. Using Kurogiri, they disappeared just as quickly as they arrived. I wish I knew where they were headed, but I didn't find out fast enough, even with my Quirk.

Nothing else would compare with the level of excitement and adrenaline I felt then. It's going to take a lot to top that.


	11. Chapter 11

**[Kurogiri's POV, the day after the USJ incident]  
**

Kurogiri was mad.

This was unusual for a Nomu, but fortnuately, he was allowed to keep his mental capacity before he was captured, before he was presented with a new and deadly set of Quirks. The only memories he had were of his days serving Shigaraki, and even then, his accomplishments stood in Shigaraki's shadow.

He stopped himself. Shigaraki had the right idea about society. Heroes were useless. As soon as they received any hint of publicity, the entire idea about "saving other lives" went down the drain, and all they cared about was how much exposure they received.

The room they were in was small and not supposed to accommodate so many people. Small, dim lamps throughout the room provided the only source of light. The bar was empty. Its shelves that used to contain beer were emptied; they served no purpose here. On the wall was a giant TV, which was probably the only piece of modern technology there.

Shigaraki was talking. "I can't say I'm not disappointed." He paced back and forth on the threadbare carpet.

The other villains nodded. "We should've been more prepared." Kurogiri offered his suggestion. His Warp Gate Quirk was powerful enough that Shigaraki treated him with respect.

"All Might is getting weaker." Shigaraki stopped pacing and sat down on the couch. "I could see it. When he was fighting, he was fast- almost too fast for me to see." He folded his arms. "He's now slower than he used to be."

The TV in the room suddenly blinked to life. Kurogiri looked at it expectantly, but there was no image. All they could hear was the sound of the other person's voice. "I trust it that my Nomu has been returned?"

"No, sir." Kurogiri spoke up again. "My Quirk is coordinate-based. I didn't see where the Nomu landed, and there was no way to find him before we had to leave."

The other person sighed, showing equal parts of pity and contempt. "Ah, well. This attack didn't go to waste. Not only did we injure All Might even further, but we showed those kids a taste of the real world."

Shigaraki wasn't listening. Kurogiri took a furtive glance and knew that he was probably even angrier than him. His hands were clenched in tight fists, and he was very close to taking off the severed hand from his face, something he rarely ever did. Shigaraki whispered something that Kurogiri barely heard: "... that stupid kid... could have killed him..."

Feeling like the conversation was going nowhere, Kurogiri decided to leave. "I'm heading out."

"There's not many places for you to go, Kurogiri." It was not Shigaraki who spoke to him, but the voice from the TV.

"I know what I'm doing. Besides, no one wants to go against me head-to-head." Kurogiri stood up and was in the middle of walking out when the voice spoke for the last time. It wasn't directed to him.

"Shigaraki, we need you. You are the person that we all look up to. Without you, none of this would be possible." Kurogiri paused slightly, then shrugged. This didn't apply to him anyway.

The current League of Villains hideout was a joke. The door was well-disguised, but Kurogiri was still careful when getting out. The farther away he was, the brighter the alley became, even though that still wasn't much. Even though it was noon, one of the busiest times of the day, he didn't run into anyone. After turning a left, he found his destination. Looking both ways, he opened the door.

Inside was a laboratory of sorts. No one cared if anything was there. According to the equipment he had to throw away, this used to be an abandoned storage closet from some now-bankrupt business from 50 years ago. He sat down and rummaged through his desk until he found a pile of notes.

_Reality Distortion Test No. 203_

_Results: Portal was created within 20 seconds. It hung in midair about 120 centimeters off the ground. While it appeared white, once the lights were turned off, it was found that the portal didn't produce any form of light. Sound in the form of random music notes exited the portal. Even though this effect has been observed for the last 50 tests, the notes form no recognizable pattern. As soon as the machine was turned off, the portal dissipated._

He spoke to no one in particular. "It's time to start test number 204."

Kurogiri stood up in the cramped space and pushed hard on the wall opposite him. Instead of how a normal wall would react, it fell over and served as a sort of hard rug for him to walk on. The cramped space didn't feel so claustrophobic anymore, even though the newly gained space was still filled with machinery.

Particle accelerators are machines that accelerate elementary particles to high energies. Most of them are large; the CERN Particle Accelerator is 27 kilometers long. Kurogiri was smart about this. Instead of having the particles travel along a tunnel, he could use his Quirk to create a sort of infinite loop and accelerate the particles as fast as he needed to. A voice at the back of his head started to speak. _I know it's been over 200 tests of this, but what if someone gets hurt? What if someone dies?_

He reassured himself that it was going to be okay. He, of course, could just use Warp Gate to get himself away. As for the other people, it didn't matter, as long as Shigaraki survived. With that, the machine sprang to life. Different parts interlocked with each other and started to move at a faster and faster rate. It wasn't noisy at all; Kurogiri had thought ahead and placed mufflers on everything.

The monitor beeped. The first particles were beginning to form. Though invisible to the human eye, their interactions were clearly visible. Two of them colliding produced a bright spark, something Kurogiri learned to ignore. Soon, those sparks began to move to the right. He created a set of portals. The particles on the right would travel into the first one and be transported to the portal on the left, theoretically giving them infinite energy.

As the seconds passed, the sparks became more and more intense that Kurogiri had to squint in order to see them properly. He had a counter that recorded the number of times the particles went through each portal. He checked it as the numbers rose higher: 350, 400, 450, 500...

Once the counter hit 750, Kurogiri immediately shut down the two portals and created a Warp Gate that sent the particles to the space directly behind him. The sparks stopped and so did the noise. He closed his eyes and tentatively opened them again. He smiled. In front of him was the same white portal described in his lab notes, except that this one was bigger. The usual stream of musical notes sounded slightly louder than before. He reached a hand in front of him, itching to see what lay ahead-

_New Message (1): Come back to the usual place. I have new information. -S_

Kurogiri scowled. He waited until the portal had dissipated, then he created a warp gate back to the place that he loved and hated. It was going to be a long day.

* * *

I decided to do more research after what happened at the USJ, starting with the villains. First off, I only used the names of the villains based on context, meaning I've heard someone else talk about them using that name. When I looked up Tomura Shigaraki, I found that it wasn't his real name. Obviously, all these villains are working together, but I still don't get how quickly they communicate with each other.

While spacing out at my apartment, I discovered a latent ability that came along with my Quirk. I started out by clenching my fists really hard, but I was soon lost in thought and hadn't realized what was going on. I looked down at my hands and saw two translucent rings around them. Each had the letters, numbers, and symbols found on an ordinary English keyboard. When I was just about done with looking at my hands, I saw a translucent screen in front of me to match. Tentatively, I moved my fingers. The screen responded: _hello_

This was a breakthrough! This meant that I didn't have to get by using other people's computers. After ten or so minutes of using this strange interface, I knew that this was perfect for me. Suppose you're typing, but you're slow at it. Your brain knows exactly what to do, but because of the slow speed, doing anything involving typing is difficult. My "computer" completely bypasses this.

Once I was comfortable with the basics, I created shortcuts. With a wave of my hand, I can bring up any information I want to, whether that be news, the weather, or, I don't know, whatever little I could find out about the villains. I was disappointed when I saw that there was nothing that I didn't know already.

The school is also hosting a sports festival in about a week's time. Until then, I still have to remember to keep up with physical training. Something tells me that the USJ incident won't be the last we'll see of Shigaraki, Kurogiri, or perhaps the other low-level thugs dedicated to their cause.

* * *

AN: There are probably many scientific inaccuracies here, some of which are hard to describe. Sorry.


	12. Chapter 12

I understood why people were hyped up for the sports festival. Me, I just wanted to have fun without anyone breaking all of my bones.

"Listen carefully." Eraser Head looked like a mummy. He was covered in head to toe with white bandages, and I felt sorry for him. "This is one of only three chances to join a pro hero agency. Take this seriously and keep that in your mind as you prepare."

Never mind.

Until the class ended, I just kept my head down and took notes. "Why aren't yuu guys leaving?"

"This." Midoriya pointed to the doors and I was overwhelmed by statistics. I recognized these people as students from Class 1-B and Class 1-C. "They probably want a good look at us before the festival."

"So this is the legendary Class 1-A, huh?" One voice was clearly heard above the mutters. I saw a boy with messy purple hair and eyes with the same tired look as Eraser Head's.

_[Target: Hitoshi Shinso]_

_[Quirk: Brainwashing]  
_

_[Description: Once someone verbally responds to him, Shinso can choose to have him or her do whatever he commands. While in this state, the affected person cannot do anything relying on higher brain function, such as speaking.]_

Shinso continued. "You don't understand how lucky you all are to be the ones under the spotlight. That's where the festival comes in." His tired eyes never left Bakugo's face. "Based on our performance there, the school can choose to move some people in the hero course. That means some of you will be moved out."

Bakugo sneered. "Move it, you extras." _Way to go._ I heard the protests of my classmates, especially Iida, though he was waving his hands so much that I didn't pay attention to what he was saying. Like all other events, a timer was placed into my head. We all had two weeks, three days, and five hours to prepare. In between training, school, and days where I did absolutely nothing, the festival's arrival hit me in the face. It kind of hurt when I saw everyone else being productive with their time.

We wanted to see what was going outside, but we couldn't. All of the students in Class 1-A were put in some sort of waiting room, which was basically a glorified locker. I warmed up beforehand, imagining scenes from books and movies inside my head. I couldn't help but hear everyone else talk, and I opened my eyes.

"All Might has his eye on you, right?" Todoroki stood a few inches higher than Midoriya and was looking at him closely. Midoriya didn't know what to say, but I guess Todoroki's statement made sense.

"There's no time for this, it's time to go." It was probably Iida who spoke this time. I followed everyone else outside. As it turned out, our little room was connected to a long, dark passageway that opened up into the stadium. I braced myself for the noise, but when we started to walk out, I was hit with a wave of sound. The stadium's staggered rows held thousands of people: parents, Pro Heroes, and others that wanted to see how we would do. I resisted the urge to vanish on the spot.

"ALL RIGHT!" If I thought it was impossible to get any louder, I was wrong. I looked up at the commentator's box and found Present Mic. He seemed to feed off the energy that the audience gave, unlike Eraser Head. Something told me that he didn't want to attend.

"Watch the fledgling heroes give their all today! We've designed a series of tests for each of them! What dangers will they face?" I grimaced slightly. Mic only has two modes: loud and extra loud, and I didn't want to entertain the possibility of a third.

"I present to you Class 1-A, the stars of the USJ Incident!" We were the first to take the field, and I watched as we took our designated spots. Present Mic continued to introduce the other classes. "Now we have the hero course students, Class 1-B and Class 1-C!" Mic then presented the other classes from general studies and support, but he didn't spent a lot of time on them. I heard one student mutter, "Is that favoritism I hear?"

The crowd quieted down immediately as Midnight took the stage. I quietly prayed the Mineta wouldn't go crazy while she explained the rules. I unconsciously began to tune the words out, and my vision blurred slightly. Later, I learned that Bakugo was the one to give a speech. While it wasn't the best choice, he did come first in the entrance exam.

I barely heard the words, "Our first event is the obstacle course! Every class is participating! As long as you stay in bounds, you can do whatever you want!" My legs seemed to move out of their own free will, and I finally pulled myself back to reality. Present Mic began the countdown. "On your mark... get ready... go!"

Between the narrow hallway and several hundred students, I was squished. The first finishers would be determined by who would get out of the mosh pit first. Soon, those would-be first-place finishers did escape. I suddenly found the air around me getting colder. I figured that Todoroki would already begin his journey to the finish line. With that in mind, I had an idea. While the others ran in front of me, I stayed behind and saw the clear boundary between ground and ice. I stomped on the ice as hard as I could and managed to break apart a few shards. Using those shards, I broke more pieces of the ice until I had a medium-sized collection behind me.

"What's this student doing?" _Damn, I forgot this thing was on television._ "Eraser Head, is this-" Present Mic waited for Eraser Head to whisper my name in his ear. "Shiraseru?" I projected a message to them. _Trust me, I know what I'm doing._

Ice has very little friction. Once you start moving, it's very hard to change your course. I focused on the cloud of ice behind me, braced myself, and jumped. The wall of ice behind me pushed me forward almost as fast as Iida in second gear. Faces flew past me as my feet did whatever they could to stay in contact with the ice. The crowd cheered, and I learned later to tune those noises out as well.

As I was about to jump off of the ice, I used the leftover ice to push me up into the air. I was already tired, but I forced myself awake. I saw the ground shake beneath me.

"Our first obstacles are here! Please welcome the arena traps!" Present Mic stretched out the last word. _I wonder where he gets all this air._

Todoroki had no problem clearing that either, because he froze it. Unfortunately, the robot toppled to the ground, and my head was almost taken off by a flying piece of painted metal.

Flying takes a lot of energy, so I slowly directed myself to the ground. I had already faced arena traps before, so I simply found their control panel and disabled them so I could get past. At this point, the crowd's roars were drowned out by the sheer chaos that was going on.

Even though there was more than half of the race left, I was tired. Stamina wasn't my strong suit, so I had to find other ways to pass. The lead that I had gained at the start slowly started getting smaller and smaller as my physically-conditioned cohorts ran past. I hoped that the second obstacle would give me another hint as to what to do next.

My luck was terrible. In front of me was a gaping chasm that even a zero-pointer couldn't jump over. Pillars of rock were interspersed in between with ropes connecting all of them. I gulped and looked down.

_[Depth: 100 meters]_

I noticed some of the other contestants being more careful, since they knew that I was just going to hop on a cloud like one of those referees in Mario Kart. I slowly let myself on one of the ropes and my arms buckled under the strain of keeping me up. The fear of falling was strong enough to nullify the pain in my muscles, and I scowled as the others went past me.

When I stood on one of the pillars, I looked ahead. Todoroki created more ice that no one was bothering to clean up, so I used the full force of my mind to pull it to me. I didn't know that ice could stick onto objects so well. One of the pieces finally broke free and it would have hit me in the face if I didn't dodge. Using the same strategy as I did at the first obstacle, I was able to clear the ravine.

I had a lot of running to do, so I decided to trip up the others. I recalled one of the final levels in Mario Run and recreated it in 3D. Once I was a fair distance away from the second obstacle, I snapped and vanished.

Behind me, I left a mess. The ground appeared to crack under the immense heat that the lava moat gave off. On the two sides of the path, there were two medieval-style castles complete with turrets and broken windows. To be a little forgiving to the other contestants, I created three pathways made of stone. Inwardly, I hoped no one would try to push anyone off and expose my trick.

To my surprise, my illusion worked, and people were hesitant to cross the bridges. That put me within the top 10!

"Now, it's time for the third obstacle, the minefield!" I cringed and thought of how Eraser Head dealt with the sound, given that he sat only two feet away from Mic. I looked at the not-so-hidden landmines closely.

_[Landmine]_

_[Energy released: 1.8 x 10^6 J]_

_[Blast radius: 1 m]_

"Oh, no, don't worry!" Mic was laughing. "These landmines won't hurt anyone, but for this event, we've juiced them up a little!" I calculated a path for me such that every time I landed, I would be thrown closer to the finish.

_This is going to hurt a lot._ I flopped back-first onto the mines and was thrown into the air. In that moment of weightlessness, I saw other people undergoing the same trouble and others that didn't. Bakugo used the blasts from his hands to propel himself, and Momo created staffs from her arms to do the same.

I didn't anticipate how high the bombs would have launched me; the blast radius was very misleading. On my final jump, I landed on a mine that was close to the end of the minefield. At a 45-degree angle, this ensured I had the most air time before I could pick up myself and run. I knew I wasn't first; I could already hear cheers coming from the crowd. That didn't bother me; I survived anyway. This gave me time to look at the ranks. My eyes scanned through rows of names until I finally found mine at 10th place. Midoriya was shook, and I went over and congratulated him on his performance. He still looked scared, but less so.

The 32 participants that remained qualified for the second contest.

"We're playing capture the flag!" Midnight snapped her whip to get everyone's attention. "The teams will be chosen based on your placement." Odd placements and even placements were put onto different teams, and I saw who was on my team: Iida, Bakugo, Shoji, Ashido, Momo, Kirishima, and students from other classes that I couldn't name off the top of my head.

Cementoss slammed into the ground, creating two stones at opposite ends of the field. Our flags were visible at the top. "You have 15 minutes! To score a point, take the flag of the opposite team and bring it to your stone. The timer will stop, the flags will be returned, and you will resume play." Okay, nothing unusual.

"Points will be given. If you hold the flag for 10 seconds, you will get 10 points. If you steal a flag from another person, you get 5 points. If you prevent a person from stealing your flag, you get 10 points. In addition, members of the winning team receive a 30 point bonus."

I turned to Iida. "Isn't this going to cause conflict between the teams?" He was about to say a response when a giant airhorn sounded. It was time to begin. Iida rocketed to the other side using his Engine Quirk. I also ran to the other team's side. Those with defensive Quirks such as Shoji stayed behind.

Todoroki sent a giant ice wall over to our side, and I had no way to stop it. The sheer volume of the wall surprised everyone. Ice crystals glittered in the sunlight as we looked up and saw a structure that was taller than the stadium. It also eliminated any chance of going through the middle, so I launched a sneak attack. I found Kirishima also running and stopped him.

"Kirishima! We're launching a surprise attack, okay?" I kept my voice low. "You'll go in first and fight, and I'll reappear and help you out." He didn't look too happy, but I was at a loss for any other plans. Kirishima ran forward with surprising speed. Present Mic was also providing commentary, but like I said earlier, I tuned that out.

There were five people guarding the other team's flag: Midoriya, Shinso, Jiro, Kaminari, and Tetsutetsu. I only recognized him because Kirishima mentioned something about them having similar Quirks. I kicked myself for being stupid, but fortunately, Iida was already doing his best to evade them. While I was still vanished, I walked closer and closer until a loud explosion threw me off.

"Hey!" Kaminari pointed to me. I guess the loud sound broke my concentration. Shinso looked at me. _Don't respond._

Trying not to say anything was hard, especially when my teammates and Shinso were talking at the same time. I ignored them and decided to move on my own.

Jiro's earphone jacks sent another wave of sound which rivaled the volume of Present Mic's screams. I covered my ears, and that stopped the three of us from making a move. In my vision, I saw an alert. Todoroki had just stolen our flag and was ready to bring it over to his side. Jiro had stopped, and I could see his outline growing bigger as he ran over to his team. Bakugo went on to fight him, which at least gave us an extra minute. I continued to run over to the stone, noticing Ashido for the first time.

"There's too many people here!" Midoriya said.

"I'll take care of that." Kaminari grinned, ignoring the protests from his teammates. "Indiscriminate Shock- 1.3 million volts!"

I knew how electrocution could affect people, but knowing it didn't help. The shocks hurt a lot, and by the time I had gathered my wits, my hands and feet were still twitching uncontrollably. Jiro sighed as Kaminari started to walk in random patterns, seemingly unaware of what was going on around him.

Within two seconds, I heard the sound of metal against metal. Kirishima and Tetsutetsu were fighting. Both of their Quirks have the same attacking and defending capabilities, and there was a good chance that they would be fighting for the rest of the time we had left, six minutes.

As I stepped closer to their flag, Kirishima asked me a question. "What's the other teammates doing?" I went to speak before I was crippled. I stood there frozen as I looked at _Shinso._ He had some device stuck to his mouth; that's how he made his voice sound like another person's. Just like Ares, I tried not to succumb to the power of his Quirk. Because I had experience of this from Ares, I knew how to deal with this. I put my hands over my head and laid down in the fetal position until it was over.

Someone kicked me, and I was glad to know that I was no longer under the influence of Shinso's Brainwashing. He looked really confused about it, but I did notice that Ashido was already frozen in place just like I was. Given my first encounter, I had no idea how to stop it from affecting other people, and I focused on the flag again. I checked the timer: 2 minutes, 44 seconds.

There wasn't a lot of time left. I could only run across the field in 2 minutes and 44 seconds. Todoroki had lost our flag, but it was now under Midoriya's control. He's been studying the moves of other people, including me. I needed to get to him as fast as I could. I ran as fast as I could, seeing the seconds ticking down. He looked surprised as I was flying, but he soon realized what I was doing.

In desperation, I called out to him. "There's only one minute left!" Wrong move. He guessed that in the endgame, he was free to use One for All. Midoriya grabbed me and pulled back. In my panic, I barely noticed his arm lighting up. "SMASH!"

His punch hit me square in the chest, and the wind was knocked out of me. I did a quick to check to make sure that none of my bones were broken, but I had other problems. I was launched to the other team's end, and I once again saw the other students struggling from a bird's-eye view.

There was one more chance to win. One of my teammates blew solid air from his mouth and pushed me to the flag, where I dislocated my arm grabbing it. I was flying too fast for the other team to catch me.

Tokoyami tried to steal the flag using Dark Shadow, but I threw it like a javelin to Iida. He stood there and I wondered why he wasn't running until I saw his engines turning a shade of orange. Iida had never looked more focused.

Iida crossed the entire field in just 1.48 seconds and put the flag on our stone. Just then, the airhorn sounded again. The match was finished.

I ran over to Iida and he was massaging his legs. Apparently, that burst of speed had really taken its toll. The audience was cheering, and I was proud to say that I would be moving to the third round.

We never made it to the third round. As soon as Midnight began to speak, a dark fog began to spread across the sky without warning. The sun was blocked by the fog, and the crowd's cheering instantly turned to screaming. The other students stood there, and we all knew that it was best to run.

Kurogiri was here.


	13. Chapter 13

This was easily the worst time to have a disaster. I looked around and saw the students, unsure of what was going on. Present Mic gripped his microphone tightly. "Everyone, calm down. The Pro Heroes here will assist you and direct you to a location where you will be safe."

_Kind of late for that now._ Now, Kurogiri's fog had completely blocked out the sun, and it was really hard to see. The outlines of my classmates showed up in my vision, and we needed to regroup and figure out how we were going to get out of this.

I tapped Midoriya on the shoulder. His head whipped back and he was certain that a villain that had approached him until he saw my face. "Wha- when did you get here?"

"I'm always here. Come on, let's get everyone else."

Above the stadium, a purple vortex appeared. It was like standing directly at the bottom of a hurricane, except for the fact that there was no eye. The fog condensed into long, sweeping arms that circled above us. Where was Kurogiri?

Midoriya soon made his way back to me. "Okay, I've got Iida, Uraraka, and Todoroki. Where's Kurogiri?"

Okay, so he had the same questions as me. Through the chaos, I turned around in a full circle before finally settling on a few white pixels. "There." I pointed, though they couldn't see him. "He's about one mile away. Even if we got there as fast as we could, the fog's going to continue doing damage to the stadium."

We decided to split up and meet together again where Momo was. She could always create some large structure that could get our attention. Meanwhile, my prediction was right. The fog started lowering itself onto the stadium like a giant parasite. People at the upper rows screamed as metal was wrenched from the walls. I looked down at the bottom rows and saw that the evacuation process was very slow. At this rate, there were a chance of people dying because they couldn't get out fast enough.

I started running around and telling the other students of our plan. They all agreed to it, and soon after, I saw a giant beacon appear out of nowhere. That was the signal, and we all stood there as a bunch of confused high school students.

"We're all here." Kaminari was the first to speak. "What do we do now?"

"We can-" I don't know who talked next; the voice was overshadowed with another loud creak. The top rows were now completely destroyed. On top of avoiding the fog, bits of metal and plastic also started to fly through the air. Normally, they were harmless; at a hundred miles an hour, they were over-sized bullets.

I took a quick inventory of the people in the stadium. Out of the 50,000 that chose to show up, about 3,600 had already been evacuated by heroes, 8,000 used their own Quirks to get out, and the rest were still on their way. "Todoroki!" He turned around. "Can you create temporary structures so the people have something to land on if they fall?" He nodded and skated away.

Uraraka bounced on the balls of her feet. "In that case... I'll help get people to the ground safely if they fall." Other people made similar plans, and our original crowd of about 200 students dwindled to about 20, me being one of them. I didn't understand why I didn't choose to run at first, and if I didn't move, I definitely would have now.

Half of the rows were missing, and people were dropping out of the air like flies. Uraraka and the other students were actually doing a great job at keeping people safe; at that moment, a tiny fraction of the attendees were injured.

I covered my hands over my head and ran to find one of the tunnels we entered from. As I was about to run in, a car-sized chunk of the commentator's box flew out of nowhere and blocked it. For one second, I thought Present Mic was dead, but I found him in one of the bottom rows, still helping with the evacuation. This didn't stop me. I found another exit and ran without stopping to see where it led me.

Looking around, I saw that I was in Class 1-B's waiting room. The hectic grating noises outside were muffled, and I sat down on a bench. I could finally start to work. Clenching my fists again, I saw the familiar translucent computer interface and the blue rings around my hands. So far, in the space of 20 minutes, more than half of the crowd were headed to safety, so I could ignore that for now. The next obvious issue was Kurogiri. He didn't bring any other villains with him, or rather, Shigaraki didn't order him to move out.

Using security cameras was a seriously hard task. Many of them were destroyed, facing the ground or sky, or were damaged so badly that the only thing you could see was static. I tapped into one of the stronger cameras on the outside of the stadium directly facing Kurogiri. What I saw made my stomach drop.

Apparently, the fog had spread so far that the stadium wasn't the only thing that was being affected. Streams of purple swirled around city buildings, breaking through windows and making them topple. Most of the buildings were only one or two floors high, but with a high number of them, the area around the stadium could easily be a replica of the Ruin Zone from the USJ.

I put the view in a different monitor and focused more on Kurogiri himself. The closest view of him was from the same camera that was capturing all the destruction, so most of my observations had to come from guessing. He was hidden by something. It could have been a wall; he could have been standing underground for all I knew, but Kurogiri was invisible to the outside world.

After that, I took a screenshot of the scene and the monitors dissipated. Though I thought I could stay for an extra five minutes, the flickering lights told me otherwise. Outside, the noise didn't stop, and it seemed even louder than before.

I exited the room and ran down the stairs as fast as my legs would take me. I was about to go outside when I saw with a shock that the field itself wasn't safe. The debris had begun collecting outside and flying in unpredictable patterns. We were stuck in a large tornado tube.

If going out wasn't an option, then I would have to break my way out. The faster an object moves, the harder I have to work to pull it to me. The remnants of the speaker's podium came hurtling at me, and I quickly redirected them to the ceiling.

This worked much better than I thought. Instead of creating a dent, the pieces actually ripped through the stadium and gave me access to the lower seats. Luckily, the stadium was built strong enough so the fury of several hundred toms of rock didn't fall on top of my head.

While going up, I was careful not to get hit, and I looked out. In the time that I wasn't in contact with the outside world, the air had become a minefield. The fog, of course was still there, but it didn't need to go down any further. There was an honest-to-god whirlwind out in the middle of the field that contained enough metal to fill up a large house. In the center, the speed of the wind was so fast that it tore the debris apart. The wind where I was standing wasn't to be messed with either.

My classmates were all fine, but they had all returned to UA. I tapped into Eraser Head's class's security camera once I had found a place that wasn't so windy.

"We're taking roll. When I call your name, say 'here' or at least find some way to let me know you're alive." _Shit. _His voice was surprisingly still monotone.

I waited for him to call out all 21 names. "Bunseki Shiraseru." He looked up and I saw his eyes sweep across the classroom. The angle of the camera gave me a clear view of the blackboard, and I started to write. _Just so you know, I'm still alive. I'm at the stadium right now, and it's not looking good. I think everyone's been evacuated at this point, but wait for me. I'm on my way. -Shiraseru_

The class let out a collective sigh of relief. "Sir!" Iida raised his hand. "I've heard from security that they're planning to put the students in lockdown with all this going on."

More whispers from the class. "How is he going to get in?"

Eraser Head would have facepalmed, but his bandages didn't let that happen. "There's no way to make the security branch change their minds. It's better if all of us are safe than if we put everyone at risk by letting him in. It's harsh, but we have to accept that." He spoke to no one in particular. "Shiraseru, if you can hear me, and you probably can, get here as fast as possible."

I cut the connection and looked outside. Kurogiri assumed that everyone was out of the stadium, so the winds weren't as strong. I remembered the school's address for the thousandth time.

_[UA High School]_

_[Distance: 0.98 km]_

Normally, this wouldn't be a problem, but there was still all this junk around. The most direct route involved a jump from the highest point in the stadium, which was the seats.

I ran across rows of empty seats, and now, the noise had fallen to a bearable level. Jumping across the handrail, I went up the stairs and made my way until UA was within my sight.

The stadium was easily 50 to 60 meters tall, and a fall from that height would mean 'game over' for me. By this point, I was tired from using the telekinetic aspect of my Quirk, but I had no choice. Once more, I willed a cloud of trash to surround me and safely get me down.

My eyes were clear, but my road was not. Take a rocky beach. It's very slippery to run across, even with the right shoes. One mistake and you tumble into the ocean or break a bone. That's basically what I had to deal with. My arms looked like windmills that were out of control as I hoped that the school wouldn't close its doors.

The fog wasn't done yet. It also tried to follow me, as if it blamed me for the problems it caused. My lungs were on fire, and the effort of running only added fuel to that fire.

I started to slow down when the gates were in sight. Surprisingly, the UA logo was still shining brightly as usual. If I thought I was in the clear, I was wrong. An airhorn blared. I recognized it as the one used in the sports festival. Suddenly, the gate started to close shut.

"Not so fast!" One of the metal sheets on the ground flew and stuck itself, leaving an opening wide enough for me to crawl through. I didn't know what the security team was thinking right now, but I hoped they would be forgiving enough to let me enter.

I heard a sickening crunch. The gate had started to close again; even if the pace was slower, I didn't have a lot of time. I focused all of my willpower on un-crushing the metal sheet. It worked slightly, and I started to crawl.

Crawling under the gate made me experience the longest five seconds of my life. My heartbeats rang loud and clear in my ears as I wriggled free and opened the doors. Behind me, I heard a louder crunch that let me know that the gate was closed.

Still running, I opened the door of Class 1-A. It slammed against the wall, and only then could I finally catch my breath. The class seemed to do the same. I saw a hint of a smile in Eraser Head's smile as I went to my seat.

"What happens now that the gate is closed?"

Eraser Head shrugged the best that he could. "I'm assuming other security measures are going to be put in place." As soon as he finished, a loud clang resonated through the building. Metal shutters closed on all the windows.

"Aw, man, now we won't be able to see what's going on!" I didn't know where the voice was coming from, but I found out soon enough.

_[Target: Toru Hagakure]  
_

_[Quirk: Invisibility]_

_[Description: Self-explanatory.]  
_

"That's not a problem. I pulled up a screen that showed a news channel. The class groaned. Kurogiri had not only attacked UA, but he did the same with other schools across Japan. The same scene of complete ruin echoed itself on the screens.

"Okay, how the fuck has he gotten so strong now?" Bakugo slammed his hand against the table.

"Honestly, I have no idea either. Has his Quirk awakened? His Quirk is coordinate-based, so he must have spent a lot of time memorizing the landscape."

"That doesn't tell us anything!"

"Calm down, Bakugo." Iida responded with his signature hand gesture. "With Shiraseru's Quirk, knowledge is on our side. Surely he'll come up with something."

"I wish." Out of the one screenshot I took of Kurogiri, I didn't have a lot to work with. I was almost starting to worry about the other villains. If he's this strong, he could easily take out anyone else.

We continued to stay in the classroom for six hours. Fortunately, Lunch Rush was able to drop by and provide meals for us. Everyone mostly took out their phones. Considering the damage, it was surprising that we got service at all.

There was an announcement from the loudspeakers. "The lockdown is now over." I got out of my seat and vanished. I didn't relax until I was in the safety of my own apartment.

Over the past day, part of Tokyo had been turned into rubble. There was only one question: where would Kurogiri strike next?


	14. Chapter 14

Anticipating another attack, new security measures were put into place. The next day, Eraser Head brought a list and read it to us. "Pay attention, class."

"As of right now, we still don't know what's going on." He looked at me as if to ask if I knew anything, and I shook my head slightly. "These rules have been put in place for your safety. I understand the power of some of your Quirks, but as you have seen yesterday, it's going to take a lot of effort to stop Kurogiri."

"First, everyone will be home by sundown." Some students opened their mouths in protest. "There will be no exceptions, and the police and Pro Heroes will assist anyone if they need help going to their residences."

"Second, there will be tighter security in public events, such as the sports festival. The stadium is currently being rebuilt with higher-quality material that can hopefully withstand another attack. Carry your student ID with you at all times; if you don't, you might be detained."

Eraser Head looked at his paper. "This system is still new. It was printed and given to us an hour ago. If there's any updates, I'll let you all know."

Even with the new rules, the city seemed to return to normal. Following the aftermath of the attack, funds were started so people could donate money to rebuilding the stadium. With their Quirks, the heroes could create new structures much faster than any machine could do. Within a week, the stadium was repaired, and life went on. Classes didn't stop, and businesses seemed to do better than ever.

I respected my teacher's wishes, but something told me that this wasn't just a one-time thing. I started by trying to find Kurogiri or the other League of Villain members.

Starting from my apartment, I attached a map of Tokyo in the corner of my eye. Any area that I had already traveled over turned green, so I would know that I had been there before. Anything unusual would be recorded so I could hopefully study it later.

This sounded like a good plan at first, but I soon realized that this wasn't a short-term project. Moving in a straight line is easy; even at a normal walking speed of 5 kilometers an hour, it only takes 18 hours to cross Tokyo east to west and 5 hours to cross Tokyo north to south. This gave me an idea of what I was working with, even if it didn't make my job any easier.

My first step was to look in every building within one square kilometer of my apartment, starting with the apartment itself. I did the search within one day by pretending to be a maintenance worker. Once you take the clipboard and put on the hard hat, you're ready. People will automatically believe that you are a professional. I wasn't done until about 10:00 at night, and I found nothing. While it was disappointing, it was reassuring to know that I was at least safe where I was.

Over the next month, I branched out further and started by looking in shops. By vanishing, I had access to the kitchens and other employee-restricted areas. I searched every public building within 15 minutes of walking time of UA with similar results. In this time, the security measures were never lifted, but more and more people began to ignore them. Soon, the incident would become a thing of the past. I was tentative to share any results now, since I would be seen as paranoid. That turned out to be the case.

Midoriya pulled me to the side one day after class.

"You know... that project you've been working on..." He kept twiddling his thumbs.

"Yeah, what about it? It's been a while, and I haven't had much success."

"Have you ever considered... you know..." His eyes never met mine.

I decided to be honest. "What? If you have something to tell me, just tell me."

Midoriya sighed. "It's been over a month since the accident, and everything's been fine. The stadium has been completely rebuilt, and the Pro Heroes have started to crack down on the villains. I know what you have to do, but this project doesn't seem like a good idea anymore."

I wasn't even mad. "Yeah... but I don't have anything else to do, and this is one of the only things that's keeping me sane, to be honest." I started to walk out the door. I barely heard Midoriya. "You do you."

Kurogiri was smart, and I knew that I was going to work harder if I wanted to find him. This is when I started looking into alleyways and the crawlspaces of buildings that I had already checked. Knowing how oblivious I was, I vanished before embarking on these trips. To blend in, I wore a hoodie with a mark that covered every part of my face except for my eyes. On my side was a knife and chisel in case I needed fragments of stuff to throw at other people. A fleeting thought occurred to me- this could basically be my hero costume as well.

Traveling in the spaces behind buildings wasn't good for my sanity. I always had the feeling that I was somehow being watched, and I found myself looking over my shoulder every three seconds, even though I was invisible. My eyes scanned the walls for anything that might be hidden. Despite my concerns, there were moments when I almost collided with other people.

Perhaps the hardest places of all were the ones that were specifically protected against Quirk users with bad intent. I had no choice but to reveal myself. In one specific location, a hardware shop, I copied the worker's uniform onto my own clothes, mustered my courage, and walked up to the guards.

"What are you doing? It's not time to work yet." His features were rough, as if he was permanently frowning.

"Sorry, I forgot something." I gave my best try at looking tired, which given the situation, wasn't that hard.

He glared at me, like he was trying to find any issues with my excuse. "Badge."

I almost jumped. Looking at the work logs of all the employees, I could find which ones were at work and which ones weren't; I didn't know how much investigation he was willing to do. While I rummaged through my pockets, I moved a blank card from the ground, vanished it, and put it in my pocket. With that, I seamlessly pulled it out again, complete with identification.

He grunted. "I understand you're busy. You can come in, but I'm only giving you five minutes, okay?"

Letting out a sigh of relief, I went inside the building. Its appearance was pretty much how I would expect a hardware shop to look. The fluorescent lights hung from the ceiling and began to flicker, giving me another painful reminder of Kurogiri. This only made me more motivated to search for him.

I scoured the desks for clues. Most of the contents were harmless, just ordinary tools used for ordinary jobs. I created virtual copies of all the documents. Given the time limit I had, there was no way of knowing whether something was an important document or a routine check that could be thrown away.

"Hurry up!" Looking at the timer on his watch, I knew I only had two minutes remaining.

"I'm almost there." I put my hand in one of the toolboxes and rattled the tools inside, making it look like I was doing something.

The front of the shop didn't reveal anything interesting. I had to look harder. At the back, I found the cash register. A year ago, I would be more than happy to pickpocket the bills, but now, there was no need. I ducked under the counter and looked through the exclusive "manager-only" supplied. All I found were some probably important documents, but then again, they were ordinary. I could have conducted this search anywhere else and got the same materials.

"Your five minutes are over. Whether you have it or not, you need to get out of here." The forgiving tone of the guard's voice disappeared, and he meant business. _Here we go again._ I vanished while he wandered around the aisles searching for my presence.

Something else caught my attention. It was a board modified to hold especially heavy knives and cutters. I pushed against it and accidentally bumped my elbow against one of the cutters. The clinking noise echoed through the cramped space.

"I'm serious. Hey, you're not thinking of stealing anything, are you?" I heard a click after seeing a circle of light being beamed onto the wall.

_No, I'm just borrowing something and not giving it back._ Being more careful this time, I continued running my hands over the walls. While all of this was happening, I hoped my pounding heartbeats wouldn't give me away.

I stood in front of him now, and I froze, forgetting again that he couldn't see me. I checked his watch and saw that I had been in the shop for about 20 minutes at this time. I didn't know how long his shift was, but I really hoped that someone else would get him away from here.

There was one area that I still hadn't checked. The storage closet was about five feet to my left, and it was in a state of disrepair. The floorboards became dustier the closer you were to it, and the metal of the handles had been rusted to the point that it didn't reflect any more light. I tentatively took a step forward and heard the most horrendous creak ever.

The guard whipped his head in my direction and started walking to me. I stopped breathing immediately and stepped aside. He was now in the position where I was thirty seconds ago. The guard took one long, hard look at the space where I was, and I took my chance. As he stepped back, I stepped at the same time as him, producing a sound that rivaled the creak that I heard earlier. His footsteps began to fade into the distance, and I opened the closet.

A cloud of dust billowed over me, and I held my hand over my mouth before I started to erupt in coughing. This was the most anti-climatic ending to my journey here. All I found were brooms and boxes taped over so many times that I couldn't even open them. I leaned my hand on the wall to catch my breath when I almost screamed. The piece of wall that I touched turned out not to be a wall, but a sort of trapdoor.

Heart pounding even faster than before, I opened the trapdoor, closed the closet, and slid through.

There was no light as soon as I closed the trapdoor, so I had to switch to looking at the outlines of the walls. Apparently, even if this corridor didn't exist according to official records, someone knew that it was here and had been using it as well.

After ten minutes of darkness, my eyes had completely adjusted and it was a big shock when I ran into a wall. Turning my head, I saw a very dim light at the corner, and my eyes started to adjust back again.

The alleyway I was in was different from the other ones I had been to. Normally, you could easily hear the sounds of the outside world, whether it be car engines or people talking on their phones. Here, there was none to speak of. I reminded myself that I was still invisible and I kept walking ahead. Out of boredom, I began running my hand against the walls. At this point, it was hard to know where I was, and if I kept turning randomly, I figured that I would find a way back.

Ten minutes passed, then fifteen, then thirty. My mind was still connected to the guard's watch, and at this time, it was almost sunset. Spending a night here was out of the question, unless I wanted to get stabbed or something. My right hand started to become numb from being dragged all over the place.

Suddenly, I stopped and saw a door. By looking at the outlines of objects behind certain doors, I knew that they held nothing of interest to me, but this one was different. It blended in almost perfectly with the grey wall behind it. The only clue to its existence was its outline which was easily as thin as a sheet of paper. Whoever was using this door was in a hurry.

I looked both ways before going in. The door made no sound as I closed it, and I was amazed at what I saw. A bookshelf in the corner of the room held a ton of scientific data, and I quickly flipped through pages to save its contents. As I was wearing gloves, leaving fingerprints wasn't an issue. Though it only took five minutes to save all of the data, it felt like an eternity.

Beside the bookshelf was a desk, and I read the heading of the paper before scanning it: Reality Distortion Test No. 204. I reminded myself to read that later.

There was more to the room than it seemed. Given how cleverly it was hided, why was this research so important that it needed to be kept in this room and nowhere else? Using the same strategy as before, I ran my left hand over all possible surfaces. My right hand started to recover.

When I was about to give up, I hit a groove at the bottom row of the bookshelf. I took out the documents first before flipping up a wooden panel. I pressed the button, thinking if anything bad happened, at least I would have solved one of the mysteries lingering in my mind. I heard a click and a whir and the wall opposite the door began to open. I stuffed the documents back in their place to see what I found.

Machines of all shapes and sizes filled the room, so even with the additional space, it was quite claustrophobic to stay inside. Most of them were easily identifiable; I found about eight different TV sets on the walls.

What really caught my attention was the largest machine. It was so big that it had to take up the entire back row, and I stepped back to take a better look. The wall wasn't actually a wall, but a section of a pipe that was clear on one side and opaque on the other. There were so many wires connected to it that it would surely take hours to untangle them all. Taking a picture of it for further reference, I decided to see what it would do.

I took apart some of the wires to reveal a panel with various levers and buttons. In any other context, I would've assumed that this was something that belonged in an airplane. Here, post-it notes served as labels, and I deciphered the messy handwriting. One of the notes gave instructions for the starting sequence, so I followed all the steps. The more levers I flicked, the louder the machine became, and I hoped that the mufflers would do their job.

A bright light pierced my eyes. I opened them slightly and saw a series of sparks. I remembered one of the data sets that I had scanned earlier. These were elementary particles... which meant that Kurogiri was building a particle accelerator.

I didn't want to do any more damage, so I found another post-it note that gave instructions on how to turn the machine off. Kurogiri had suddenly become a giant purple tornado seemingly overnight, and perhaps the accelerator had something to do with it. I stopped myself from hyperventilating as I avoided stepping on the stuff on the floor. I opened the door that led back to the endless maze and closed it just as quickly. Had I hesitated, I would've been dead for sure. Kurogiri himself rounded the corner of the hallway where the door was, and the telltale purple fog let me know that I had to get out of here.

Getting through the maze didn't seem so hard anymore, even though the sky had darkened completely. It took me an hour to finally escape, and the bustle of the city was music to my ears. Even in the safety of my apartment, I didn't turn visible until I was in my room. I flopped onto the bed and counted to ten.

After that, I felt much better. I took all of the data I found and copied it onto a hard drive. Using some of the things in my junk drawer, I made a necklace and hung the hard drive from it. My time searching was over.


	15. Chapter 15

That night, I couldn't sleep. I had all this information and I didn't know what to _do _with it. After about four hours of sleep-deprived thinking, I decided to tell the class.

As Eraser Head shuffled into the classroom, I snapped my fingers. The windows had fake blinds planted on them; we could see outside, but people outside couldn't see in. The door locked itself, and the feed from the classroom's security camera paused.

Kirishima leaned over and whispered in a barely audible tone. "What are you doing?"

Eraser Head narrowed his eyes, which didn't make that much of a change to his face. "If you have a rational reason for your actions, please explain."

That stare left me feeling small. In my half-awake state, I forgot to rehearse a speech or something that I could tell them. _Actions speak louder than words, right?_ I raised my hand in the air and did a sort of sweeping motion. While this happened, a picture of Kurogiri's particle accelerator appeared, with all of its details intact. If this didn't convince them, I also brought up the tons of files that I scanned from the room.

"Holy shit..." Bakugo stared at the illusion.

"Where did you find this?" Iida didn't appear fazed at all. "We need reliable sources."

I retraced my steps from yesterday evening, beginning with the hardware shop and the storage closet. I was being a bit careless, and I gripped my head with one hand as I finally found the address of the hardware shop. I tapped into the camera feeds, and it reminded me of a scene from a spy movie. There were sixteen squares, each focusing on a different area of the building. Enlarging the square on the bottom right, the storage cabinet was clearly visible in the corner.

Ignoring the mutterings of the other students, especially Midoriya's, I then displayed the building's blueprints, with the official one first and the other one next. The second blueprint showed the secret passage that led to the maze of hallways that I never wanted to go through again.

"That's interesting." Eraser Head cleared his eyes. "No one knew about this before. How did you get this data?"

"Two things: someone had to know about this passage, and someone had to write that information down on paper. I guess whatever Kurogiri was doing, he wanted to keep track of all his information. I don't blame him; that's what a good scientist would do. Apparently, he's been doing this project for a while. By using the hardware shop to build things and buying parts under a fake name, he's been able to create a makeshift lab in an area virtually no one knows about. The League of Villains also don't attack very often, and it's giving him a lot of time to work with." I waved my hand again.

Files began to fill the space in the room. Some of them held little value, like receipts. Others were more important, like the test logs that I saw on the desk. "Feel free to pick one up if you want."

The little space left in the classroom became even smaller when my classmates took a closer look at the files. I realized that I didn't tell them how to read them, but they figured out how to scroll and switch pages easily on their own. Eraser Head eventually got up from his seat and started to read some of the documents too.

"I'm a bit prejudiced, him being a villain and all, but these notes are amazing!" Midoriya was lucky enough to receive a copy of the prototype accelerator blueprints.

"Want to see something cool?" I snapped, and an illusion of the accelerator appeared, complete with controls. I brought up the starting sequence instructions. "Follow the instructions here." Midoriya's head moved back and forth, and he turned the "machine" on. A loud buzzing sound filled the classroom, and everyone stopped reading to look at us. Soon, we saw the telltale sparks moving back and forth quickly.

"Linear accelerators actually exist, but with his Quirk, Kurogiri was able to somehow condense what used to be tens of kilometers long into a space the size of a closet." Momo was almost starting to mutter like Midoriya.

"That's so unmanly of him to just sneak away from the rest of his group like that!" Kirishima hardened his skin and did a fist bump with himself, producing a sound that I thought the accelerator would have made.

The others began to speak up immediately, but Eraser Head silenced them with a particularly stern glare. "If there's any discussion that needs to take place, finish it up quickly. Class ends in about 10 minutes."

I sighed. With another snap, the documents disappeared, as well as any models that might have been summoned by them.

"The evidence is gone!" Iida pointed at me with his arms at right angles.

"It's not _gone._ The illusions are gone. I have the data." I sighed.

"Okay, listen up." I paused, thinking about what to say next. "I would've told you to not tell anyone about this, but given the things that people post online, news of this is probably going to spread very quickly." I turned around to face everyone individually.

"If you need to communicate about anything related to this, do so in person only. Messages sent even on private channels can be hacked."

"Are you going to be the one doing the hacking?" Sero was still smiling, though the smile had begun to fade.

"Other people can, but yes, I can too. I won't do that unless the issue is very urgent. If you don't think I'm being specific, I'm making up this speech on the spot and I don't know what to say either, so I'm learning with you all."

"I didn't plan for this step earlier, so if you have a phone, give it to me now." Silence. I expected this reaction, so I brought my own. "This is my phone that I have modified so it can't be tracked. I won't go over the logistics of how it works, because I have no idea either. Basically, the signal from the phone is run through VPNs all over the world so the source can't be traced. Each message is also encrypted with a key that only I have."

"I still don't trust you." Jiro narrowed her eyes. "How do I know that you're not going to run off with my information?"

"How do you know that I haven't already? It's not like I have a choice but to ignore it." I shrugged.

No one was giving up their devices, and there were still five minutes before the end of class. Whatever happened in this room needed to stay in the room, as weird as that sounds out of context. Midoriya eventually buckled. "Okay." He walked up to the front of the room. I threw his phone in the air before suspending it in midair. With a swipe of my hand, I brought up the phone's code.

People have asked me if I could code, and they're surprised when I tell them no. I can't code to save my life. Most of the coding work my Quirk does is intuitive; I don't know how to explain something if I do it. In this case, I took the code for the messaging app and changed it by making it more secure. Blocks of text floated in air and rearranged themselves, and it was done.

"Here." I handed Midoriya's phone back to him. He tapped at the screen and tested several of the apps that he normally used.

"Wait, what did you do? Nothing's different." He then clicked the messaging app. After looking for a few seconds, he found it. He was the first person to join the new group chat. Everyone who knew about Kurogiri's plan was added in it. I didn't want to make everyone else late, so I fixed the code for them as they walked out of the class. I was relieved and surprised when I found out that no one was late.

"How do you know that they're not going to talk about this?" Eraser Head called me over to his desk.

"I'll make sure of that. However, all data is traceable to some extent. I'm going to have to take a lot of steps to make sure that the League of Villains don't find out." With that, I unfroze the security camera and walked to my next class.

* * *

Kurogiri stood in his usual spot beside the bar. This time, he had the sense to bring drinks along with him, and he passed them to the villains in the small, cramped room. He sighed as Shigaraki began to speak.

"I'd like to address an issue here." His raspy voice silenced the people in the room immediately. His eyes were unmistakably pointed at Kurogiri. "I don't know how this happened... but one of our members has increased his power exponentially."

Kurogiri sighed. "I know you're talking about me."

"This has been a welcome addition, but my question is: how?" Shigaraki's right hand grasped the sofa, which began to crumble at his touch.

"I have been doing... research. It's not complete, but I promise to share it with you as soon as I am finished." He began to cringe inwardly as soon as he finished the second sentence. Why should he have to share his research with anyone? Right now, he could easily overpower everyone and move on with his own goals.

"Well, then. We should plan our next attack."

The voice from the TV spoke, startling the two of them. They hadn't heard that voice for weeks. "Where? You've seen the news, the security regulations are put in place. It's going to be harder than the break-in at USJ."

"Kurogiri can help with that." Shigaraki loosened his grip, and Kurogiri almost felt an electric shock passing through him. He existed only to serve Shigaraki. Any attack against him was unfathomable.

"The security systems are no use. We can figure our way around it. After that, well, let's just say that the Pro Heroes are going to have a hard time recovering." The disembodied voice sounded more smug.

The rest of the hour-long meeting passed in a breeze. Kurogiri was glad that he couldn't show much human expressions, so all he had to do was nod and affirm everything Shigaraki said. After what felt like an eternity, Shigaraki stood up. "That's it. You may leave. After UA is finished, Tokyo will be in our grasp."

Kurogiri sighed and shuffled away. He walked through the labyrinth of alleys that he had grown accustomed to over the past year. He could have closed his eyes and still found the way back to his lab. Normally, he would have used his portals, but today, there was no rush. Besides, he was eager to begin his next test.

He felt around the wall for the door. Given that the opening was barely several millimeters wide, one could pass by it without noticing a thing. Kurogiri expected it and pushed the door in. This lab had been his second home for a year, and his reports to Shigaraki were somewhat true. He was almost done with his research.

As he sat down to work, he felt that something was off somehow. He shuffled through papers and he couldn't find anything wrong. "I must be paranoid." He spoke to himself out loud as he prepared a new notebook.

By pressing the same sequence of buttons again and again, the particle accelerator turned on, and the symphony of buzzes and whirs filled the room. This time, he knew something was different. He checked the data from previous experiences and compared it to the current trial. He did it with every aspect of the experiment: time running, number of "laps" the particles performed, and so on. He compared them several times and realized that he hadn't made a mistake.

"Someone's been here before."


	16. Chapter 16

Before school, I checked my phone and saw the group chat that I created and saw over two hundred messages. As I walked out the door, I scrolled through them quickly to see what they were thinking. To play it safe, I checked their social media profiles and messages. They said nothing, and that made me feel a little bit better as I started to go to school.

It was another sleepless night, and I fought the urge to close my eyes and risk my attendance for an extra 30 minutes of relaxation. I stopped to sit down at a coffee shop when it happened. A crack of thunder echoed through the entire city, and I clapped my hands over my ears. I looked around and saw others doing the same. I wondered what had happened when I looked at the sky.

The familiar purple fog enveloped the sky completely. Imagine the cloud from the stadium, but a thousand times bigger. Given how dark I expected the sky to be, I was surprised that we were able to see at all.

The terrible thing hung above everyone's head. I went to the group chat.

_Shiraseru: Where are you?_

I received dozens of replies.

_Midoriya: at home_

_Bakugo: Just arrived at UA._

_Ojiro: At the gates of UA! I wonder how everyone else is doing right now._

_Hagakure: Be quiet everyone, my phone's notification sound is really loud._

_Mineta: I just got up, I'm going to be really late._

After looking at all of them, I sent a reply back.

_Shiraseru: A little over half of the people are going to UA, so meet there. If you have family, try to bring them over as well as any food + electronics. Kurogiri's probably going to wreck more stuff, and I don't want anyone's home destroyed. _

Looking up from my phone, I saw the destruction beginning. The fog began to snake its way down to ground level. On its way, it tore through everything, even the stuff that looked strong enough that you would expect to stay standing. Scaffolding was torn down like it was nothing, and that's when the chaos really started.

Tokyo Bakery, the very first place that I tried to steal from, was beginning to fall over. The chef covered his head while thousands of dollars worth of baked goods began to topple to the ground. Luckily, everyone was able to make it out of the store before it finally collapsed in a pile of wood and metal. The next building also sustained heavy losses. Any chance of repair was gone, and due to the structural nature of the second building, it too began to fall.

I looked forward and saw that the road wasn't safe either. Purple tendrils tunneled through the ground and ripped up tiles. I stepped on the sidewalk, narrowly missing an accident. A tile flew up directly in front of a car. The driver panicked and stepped on the gas, and the tile broke the windshield. This also happened at an intersection, and a chain reaction was already in place. The air was filled with the sound of car horns and breaking glass.

People began to scream and run through the streets. Any hope of rational escape was gone; those who didn't know what was going on were thrown out of the loop.

_Shiraseru: How are you guys holding up right now?_

_Yaoyozuru: Too crazy. Our car can't even get out of the driveway._

_Shiraseru: Ditch the car. Just run to UA as fast as you can._

I called Eraser Head. "All of the students are going to UA. The security system is decent here, and there's enough food to last us a good while. Is that plan okay with you?"

Eraser Head sighed. His voice was impervious to any form of alteration, and I felt sleepier just by listening to it. "Considering that a flowerpot almost struck me on the head as I walked out, sure. I'll contact the other staff members."

Hanging up, I vanished and took advantage of the volume of trash around to fly above the masses. If I couldn't be surprised any more from this, I was wrong. The fog was quite literally eating up the city. Anything that wasn't flying in the air at dangerous speeds were left on the ground to be tripped over or eaten into the portals, never to be seen again. The purple hurricane over the school apparently wasn't the only fog cloud that appeared. Strips of clear, blue sky marked the boundaries between the different clouds. They too were causing chaos in the areas that they were above.

UA was easy to find, not only because it was built that way in general, but because of the Pro Heroes standing guard outside. I showed them my student ID and they let me in.

"You're Shiraseru?" I recognized Vlad King, the homeroom teacher for Class 1-B.

"Yeah." He let me through the gate.

"Thanks for receiving that information. Without this, we wouldn't have been as prepared, even if we're barely holding on right now."

The front doors were also reinforced, and I had to show my ID again to another guard.

_Shiraseru: I'm inside, what about you?_

More replies. The only people left were Midoriya and Mineta, and by the time I had walked into Class 1-A, both of them had just entered the building. I took my seat and looked out the window.

People with construction-related Quirks had spiced up the building when everyone was asleep. The dark grey metal found at the main entrance now covered every single square inch of wall. Electricity crackled from bars at the top of the walls. Each bar produced enough current to make a normal person unconscious. I couldn't see any more defenses at the moment; someone caught my attention.

"Listen up, everyone." Eraser Head seemed to conjure silence immediately. "This event has been declared an emergency. You might think it's only happening here in Tokyo. Look." The screen at the front of the room was split into nine squares. Each of them showed different cities that were in the same struggle as we were.

"We're planning on expanding UA to have residential areas. Right now, the construction workers are tunneling underground and installing beds as we speak. By the end of the day, there should be enough space for 100 people. If you still want to go home, assuming it hasn't been destroyed, all trips must be done before sundown and you must go with another person."

"Meals will happen in shifts. So far, this is the most people that we've ever had to feed. The staff members have received a list with the different shifts. For now, all classes are suspended except for the hero class. We still don't know how much help we need."

That's how I spent my morning. I declined breakfast. I had other stuff to do. I created a sort of computer setup for myself. A few minutes later, someone tapped my shoulder. I turned around and saw Todoroki. "What's up?"

"I have a question about your Quirk." _Okay. _"You say you have access to all the data in the world? If you do, then you should know where the League of Villains are."

I sighed. On everyone's desk, I projected a blue circle with an arrow inside that pointed to my desk. Within two minutes, all the eyes were on me. "Here's the truth about my Quirk. Yes, I can access all data, but not all data is created equally. Some of it, especially the more confidential ones, are encrypted. Think of it this way. The original data might be a picture, like a person's face. By encrypting it, you're basically putting a bunch of filters over it that distort the image over and over again. In some cases, you can kind of guess what the original thing is supposed to be; other times, it's literally just a blast of random colors. Right now, I'm in the process of applying the filters in reverse." I ran a hand through my hair. "Wow... that was a really bad explanation."

For the most part, people looked at me weird, but Midoriya got out of his seat and started talking to me. "Oh, that's cool! Can I see what you're doing right now?"

"Okay, sure."

The League of Villains create virtually zero online presence of their own. For the most part, search results for them bring up reports of the damage they've caused, and those reports are written by hero agencies. There were over a hundred thousand links, and I scrolled through them all by finding different keywords in the pages. This process took me about 20 minutes and I found nothing.

"Why do you always work so quickly? If you slowed down, maybe you'd notice more."

_That is actually a good idea._ After putting my head on the desk and thinking, I had an idea. The League of Villains' purpose is to destroy modern hero society, starting by killing All Might. Because of this, they create panic every time they attack. If they want to be popular, maybe they're sending signals in plain sight.

"Midoriya, you're much more studious than I am." I put all of the files in a giant virtual stack and handed half of them to him. "Look for any words that stand out or don't fit in with the rest of the story. I'll do the same." The translucent blue screens glowed brightly as we looked at article after article. We didn't seem to be having much luck, and I was beginning to regret skipping breakfast.

"Here, I found one." Midoriya handed the article to me. "At the beginning, there's just the word 'hero.' It's in a different font from the other words, and it definitely doesn't belong."

I made sure to remember that as we kept searching. "There's also something at the bottom of this page. I can't read it, though." I zoomed in on the message, and it read, _use code for every tenth word's beginning._

I was able to strip the beginning of every tenth word and place them in a separate file. What I got was a jumble of random letters. "That's worth a try. Do you think it means anything?"

Midoriya started to mutter again. "If we're looking for a location, try to turn those letters into numbers." Replacing 1 for A, 2 for B, and so on, I ended up with a slightly shorter list. A blast of numbers was still easier on the eyes than a blast of letters. I split them into groups of latitude and longitude, but most of the time, I ended up someplace in the ocean.

"I'll shift over the letters one by one until I get something." That made no sense at all, but I knew what I was doing, somewhat. The sequence of letters was coded using a keyed Caesar cipher.

In a normal Caesar cipher, a shift of 5 means that the letter A corresponds with the letter 5 places to the right of it, which is F. It's easy to break; there are only 26 possible letters to choose from, so you can use brute force and find the original message anyway. Instead, in a keyed cipher, you use a code word. That code word becomes the beginning of the alphabet in the cipher, where repeat letters are removed. This makes a code a lot harder to break.

It took me about 30 minutes to guess the correct shift, and I finally ended up with a pair of coordinates that were in Japan, more or less. When I used a 3D map to find where the point actually was, it turned out to be a very specific particle of dust out in the open street.

"Wait." Midoriya took my list of numbers and looked at it again, more closely this time. "Notice how this sequence keeps repeating? There's more than one point here."

I followed his advice and split up the document accordingly. There were eight points, and when I plotted them on the map, they were the coordinates of the corners of a room. I adjusted the camera view and saw the room more closely.

This was a bar of some sort, but given the traffic that passes through there, it's unlikely that anyone would find a drink there. Scratches in the floor were covered by a red carpet, and the color had slowly faded over time. The couch was made of probably the same material as the carpet. "Why are the villains using this place? It's older than my parents, probably."

Shaking off the memories, I saw something else. A TV was on the opposite wall, and it was programmed to only display sound. I tried to track the signal's source, but whoever used this TV ran its signal through a loop of pretty much infinite VPNs. It would take me years before I would find it, and we didn't have that time.

I looked outside. The purple clouds were still going strong. I ached to go outside and bring my possessions back to UA; at least they would be safe there.

Midoriya interrupted my thoughts. "Let's go find the other villains."

I shrugged. "Okay."


	17. Chapter 17

"Seriously? At a time like this?" Eraser Head gestured outside. It had been several hours since the school day began, and Kurogiri didn't look like he was going to stop anytime soon.

"We have to give it a try." I didn't have any other reasons that could appeal to the rational part of his mind.

"No." Eraser Head was adamant. "You all are safer here. The other villains didn't even show up the last time Kurogiri attacked. With this level of power, they might've actually been killed."

"If Kurogiri can really overpower Shigaraki and the others..." I was thinking. "The enemy of our enemy is our friend. If we can just get the other villains to work with us for awhile, that will make our a job a lot easier."

I could see him trying to find a way to stop us from going. He looked at me with a resigned expression on his face. "Okay, fine. You're not going alone. Everyone's going."

"Are you sure?" This wasn't the solution I expected. Before I knew it, he turned to the class.

"Shiraseru found the League of Villains' hideout."

Most of the conversation stopped at once, before voices began to speak again, even louder. I heard fragments of sentences, urgency in all of them.

"How did he-"

"-too dangerous-"

"We're gonna get killed!"

"Listen up, everyone. No one's getting killed." Iida swiftly put an end to the chatter. "If we know what we're doing, then this shouldn't be a problem. We've trained for this."

"Okay, look on your sleeve." I snapped. The location of the coordinates appeared. "Don't worry, it's not permanent. Still, we can't afford to lose anyone."

Eraser Head had already talked with the other staff members. "We've come to an agreement. Half of the staff is coming with us. Shiraseru, can you vanish all of us?"

"I would say yes, but 30 people is a lot to keep track of, since all of you would be moving in totally different directions. When I vanish, I don't become invisible, I just create a constant illusion of the background behind me. We'll only use that when necessary."

With that, we went out of the building, going back through multiple layers of security. Eraser Head persuaded the guards to let us go, and the number of staff that showed up after us only reinforced his point.

Kurogiri had started to slow down his attack, but what we saw was terrible. About 75 percent of the buildings had been reduced to rubble, and the only thing that remained were broken remnants of the first floor, as well as the foundations. Everything else had fallen to the ground; maybe UA was soundproof now, because I didn't hear a thing. I thought that it would have been impossible to navigate the city, but the road was mostly level. Eraser Head just told us to beware of stepping on any glass shards.

Now that the destruction had mostly stopped, everything was quieter. The insects had stopped chirping, mostly because their habitats were pretty much gone. The sound of our shoes crunching on pebbles echoed loudly in the empty streets. Taking a look inside the apartments and houses that weren't destroyed, no one dared go outside. I already picked up on several casualties, especially from residents in the higher floors.

I walked to the front of the group. "We need to go through here." I recalled the path I took to the hardware shop and how it was the gateway to the maze that housed Kurogiri's lab. That maze was also home to the League of Villains, and it was easy to understand why. Without proper tracking, it was easy to get lost. I guessed that the League relied on Kurogiri to create exit portals to get out of the maze.

The quiet that we experienced was magnified a hundred times. I noticed Midoriya subconsciously walking with lighter steps, and slowly, everyone was beginning to do the same. By then, all we could see was grey, and the staggered pattern of the brick walls were being forced into our minds. The shop's arrival gave our eyes some time to rest. I noticed a guard, and I vanished everyone. This put a bigger stress on my mind, so I wrote a message on the wall. _Don't move unless you have to move. -Shiraseru_

We all stood in silence as we watched the guard put his keys in his pocket. He yawned, then took a look at his phone. "My shift's over. Screw this place, I'm outta here." He grabbed his soft drink and began walking in the other direction. In his absence, we scurried inside, and I revealed everyone.

"So where's the villains?" Kaminari folded his arms.

_I don't like this place._ Koda signed at me, and he looked a little pale. _This is as far away from nature as you can get._

"Follow me." We passed rows of half-empty aisles. Iida picked up several tools and inspected them thoroughly before admitting that they were nothing out of the ordinary. Before we knew it, we arrived at the closet.

"That's it?" Todoroki raised an eyebrow.

Midoriya stepped forward. "We need to go through one at a time. I'll volunteer." He opened up the closet and felt around until his hand pushed open the trapdoor. He opened it and went through with relative ease. We followed him one at a time. Shoji accidentally broke the door going in, but Momo created a replacement trapdoor in its place.

I heard a grimace. It was Tokoyami. "It's too dark in here. I don't want to lose control of my Shadow." We could hear Dark Shadow's squawks becoming louder, and we knew he was right. Momo created a flashlight and shined it in his face. We all flinched at the sudden change of light, but Tokoyami gave us the thumbs-up.

As much as I hated this place, I walked forward. Out of habit, I began to run my hand along the right side of the wall.

"You should stop doing that." Midoriya nudged me slightly. "There's no distinguishing features about this place at all, and you might open a door." I was about to tell him that this was the way I found Kurogiri's lab, but I dropped it and let my hand fall limp to my side.

We were all tense; there's no other way to describe it. All of us were in full costume gear, and Bakugo's hands were balled into permanent fists. "How much more time?" He fought the urge to yell.

I closed my eyes and saw the path to the room in my mind. "At this rate, give it another 20 minutes." These 20 minutes passed just like the last 20. No one spoke up, and the staff in the back had their back turned to us so they could fend off any attackers from behind. We finally stood above the room.

"We're right on top of where the villains should be." I turned around. "Honestly, I didn't think I would get this far."

"Can't we just break it?" Bakugo summoned small explosions from his hands. I tried to find an alternate way to get in, but that would require walking for another hour, and time was something that we didn't exactly have a lot of.

Ignoring the protests of the other students, I spoke up. "Bakugo's actually right. There's another way to get in, but we would need to walk for another hour. I haven't been to this part of the maze before, and being lost isn't fun."

The teachers at the back walked to the front. Cementoss said, "Well, I could try to move all this concrete around and give us a clear path in."

Eraser Head replied, "I agree. Though I don't think this would be the best plan, it's the most accessible one we have at the moment." He nodded at Cementoss, who put a hand to the wall. It immediately began to shift, the stone bending to its will. He stepped aside and gestured to the new opening he created.

"Stairs. Come on." The staff insisted on walking down there first, and I don't blame them. We walked down until we eventually found the entrance. Like everything else here, it blended in perfectly with the wall. Cementoss burst through it, with us following him.

"Shouldn't there be people here?" That was a stupid thing to ask, but my heart had nearly jumped out of my chest when the door opened. Something wasn't right. The villains would have tried to incapacitate us as soon as we had walked in.

After we spread out, Kirishima found the answer. "I found one over here!" We pushed past ourselves trying to get a good look.

It was Shigaraki. His tired eyes seemed worn out from constant struggle. He was so desperate that he even removed the hand on the front of his face. We wondered why he didn't make any attempt to attack us until we saw that he was bound by thin purple cords.

"If you want to kill me, go ahead." His raspy voice had an edge of defiance. "My followers will continue to track All Might down until he is dead."

"I don't want to kill you. All you have to do is tell me what happened." He looked pathetic, considering his Quirk's capabilities and how he usually acted.

Shigaraki kept muttering strings of words, and I could barely make use of them. "Guys, how are we getting him to speak?"

I received a bunch of suggestions, ranging from shocking him to trying to appeal to his emotions. "Physically hurting him will only make the situation worse." Uraraka stopped about half the suggestions from actually taking place.

"Emotions?" Kirishima hit his fists together. "He tried to kill All Might, and you guys remember that time in USJ? We were in his way, and he tried to kill us!"

"We can still give him a chance." Midoriya was much quieter than the others. "As much as I hate villains, he's still a person, even if he has some crazy beliefs."

This went on for awhile, and we stood around him in a circle and said something to encourage him and possibly convince him to help us. I'm not good at this stuff, sonI just watched. It took 30 minutes, but Shigaraki finally agreed to give us kniwledfe in exchange for freeing him.

"Kurogiri attacked us. I don't know what happened to him, but as soon as we all walked into the room, we were tied up and left to ourselves. He created an exit portal and well, that's when the destruction started."

Kurogiri was now acting on his own, it seemed. Bakugo touched the purple cords amd exploded them. The fog was spread out far enough for Shigaraki to get up. He then told us where the other villains were and we freed them also. They were confused, but Shigaraki explained the situation to them.

"Just so you know, I don't trust you yet." Shigaraki pointed a finger at all of us. "I don't want to lose control of my group, so here I am."

* * *

Kurogiri looked out the window, viewing the chaos he was causing. He didn't enjoy it all. This shouldn't have happened in the first place if someone hadn't found his lab. Years of research was in there. Who knows what someone would have found?

He stepped back and took a deep breath. All of his research had culminated in his power being the deadliest the world had ever known. He didn't even need to control his clouds manually anymore; a simple command from his mind was all it took.

Footsteps echoed outside the room. Kurogiri slowly exited the room and saw a man wandering the abandoned floor. The man turned around, took one look at Kurogiri, and was frozen in shock. Kurogiri calmly approached him.

"If you tell anyone I was here, you're dead." His yellow eyes narrowed slightly. The man nodded, and he managed a quick smile before running down the hallway. Kurogiri extended a hand and created an exit portal. Kurogiri saw his eyes change from an expression of relief to abject terror as the ground gave way below him. An observer by the window would see a purple cloud appear out of nowhere, with the man falling from over a hundred meters above the ground.

Kurogiri created another exit portal to get himself out of the building. He had picked this spot carefully; there were no cameras to pick up data of any kind, and it was inaccessible to most people. Once he was at the ground level, he used the fog to pick him up and fly across the city. Normally, he wouldn't dare do this, but now that his true power had been unlocked, he didn't care anymore.

The lab was clearly visible to him in the maze, and he went inside. He was ready to attempt the impossible. Kurogiri performed the starting sequence, and this time, his ears already tuned out the noises the machines made.

In the latest trials of research, Kurogiri modified a few aspects of the machine. By changing the position of his portals, the particles would travel at faster speeds, and the white portal would appear faster. He set the number of cycles to 2000 before sitting down and waiting.

At 1900 cycles, the machine had become impossibly loud, but Kurogiri didn't care. The white portal created was now about one meter in radius, the biggest one yet. He shut off the machine quickly and stared at it. Any noise the machines made were placed by the rapid stream of musical notes that came out of the portal.

There was no point in waiting anymore. Kurogiri braced himself before jumping inside.

What he saw was almost impossible to describe. He was floating in space, seeing the Earth float away from him farther and farther. Kurogiri instinctively grabbed the space in front of him, but he had no control over where he was going. Before he could come to terms with his surroundings, the landscape shifted again. It was like wearing a VR helmet and seeing a video game glitch happening in real life. He screamed, but no sound came out of his mouth. The glitches progressively became more and more violent until he was blinded by a light.

Kurogiri's feet touched the ground, and he looked around him. The signs were in English. "So this is America, I suppose." He created a cloud around him, ignoring the screams of the pedestrians as he rocketed into the sky. He was free.


	18. Chapter 18

Now that Shigaraki and the others were free, we all stood there thinking some form of "well, what do we do now?" They had been trapped by the cords for about 15 hours, so Kurogiri must've had time to plan after stopping the other villains. Also, because they had nothing to eat or drink in those 15 hours, they were so tired that they would be far from their peak abilities.

"Eraser Head, do you think you can cancel Shigaraki's Quirk? We can take care of everyone else." Ectoplasm created copies of himself and wrenched back the arms of the villains so they couldn't fight back.

As we returned to UA, I shuffled to the back. There was still a lot to think about. Shigaraki was subdued for now, but once he regained his full strength, he would probably turn against us. It would be hard to convince him of anything; his twisted world view had already been planted in the others' minds, making the League an echo chamber for his ideas.

The teachers told us to be quiet, but their warnings did nothing to stem the flow of chatter that was coming from all directions.

Kaminari shoved his hands in his pockets. "We need to think about the back end of things. There's no way UA is going to let in a villain, much less one of the most dangerous villains, inside the school."

Uraraka was bouncing on the balls of her feet. "Still, we infiltrated into a villain's hideout! Even if we didn't do anything, it was cool."

I was still thinking. Something must have happened to Shigaraki to turn around his perspective, but given how much time it took to find the hideout in the first place, finding any information about his past would be equally difficult.

It seemed impossible that people could talk continuously for this long, but we had already filed out of the closet and into the shop before I knew it. A worker entered the shop to do his shift, and I quickly vanished everyone before he saw us. We were careful not to bump into anything, and when we finally went on the street, the sunlight blinded us.

"Wait, we're still invisible, right?" Ojiro looked around him. "If anyone saw us with these villains, they'd freak."

"Yes, we're still invisible. I still don't know what to do with them." I pointed, and we saw that in our trip back, the villains seemed to lose even more energy. Shigaraki could barely hold his eyes open.

"We'll figure this out. This is serious, guys." Ares spoke up, and I unconsciously felt a spike of anger, even though he wasn't looking at me. "All Might... uh, we don't know where he is, but we're assuming he's still at the school, along with Principal Nezu."

I tried not to think too hard about our current situation and tried to enjoy the sights of a city like a normal tourist. We were already close to UA, and as soon as I saw the golden sign, that effect was ruined. Not a lot of people were outside, and I figured it was okay to reveal ourselves at this point.

Vlad King was waiting for us. "Is that Shigaraki? I'm pretty sure I saw Dabi too." His normally calm expression dissolved for a second before he regained his composure.

"Yeah, what's your point?" Ares went to the front of the group. "According to Shigaraki, he doesn't trust Kurogiri anymore, not since he did all of that to the city."

Vlad King sighed. "Okay, but I don't think the families are going to be too happy with our decision if we keep them in school."

Eraser Head looked around. "You're right. We'll take them to jail." We turned around and began to walk again. I wished we could have stopped for some time; I needed more time for research.

Most prisons can't withstand most high-end villain attacks, and a new type of prison had to be built to contain them. That's where we have headed: Tartarus. It was in an undisclosed location, so Eraser Head asked me to vanish everyone again. We ended up walking for several hours. Wherever the prison was, I wouldn't want to work there. The farther we were from the city, the buildings became few and far in between. Trees and grass were now everywhere.

Tartarus could be clearly seen from a mile away. Even though it only holds several prisoners, it's a black box with a side the same length as a football field. The building reflects no light at all, and I had to unmask ourselves so we wouldn't be shot.

"State your purpose." A voice boomed over a megaphone.

Present Mic decided to take over. "We have the League of Villains captured!" That was a half-truth. In fact, the villains were completely unconscious when we arrived, but we still had to be careful.

"Go ahead." The gates behind us closed. It was several times larger than the one used at UA, and it was twice as thick. We all felt a cold, swooshing sensation. I recognized it as a Quirk-cancelling gate. Mutant-type Quirks aren't affected since they're active all the time. The data-seeking part of my Quirk was intact, but I noticed that it was harder to pick up objects with my mind. Other people looked confusedly at their hands.

The front doors, if you could call them that, were still thicker than the gates at UA, and when they closed, it created an air-tight seal between the prison and the outside world. Rows and rows of guards stood behind us, leading us inside. There weren't any floors. The side of the building held cages with all sorts of security measures, while in the center, there were about 100 meters of air before you touched the ceiling.

"We'll sort this out." Someone with a different uniform than the other guards talked to us. "Do you have any special requests?"

"Give Shigaraki a videophone or at least some way for us to communicate with him. He has information." I was at the back, so I couldn't see who was talking this time.

There were about two minutes of rapid-fire conversation that I couldn't pick up on before Shigaraki was taken in chains. We watched as he was dragged to an elevator, which went up until it finally stopped at one of the highest levels. I squinted and I could barely see Shigaraki being hoisted into his cell, with the videophone as requested. The door clamped shut, with a grid of lasers activating as soon as the guards left. It was next to impossible to break out.

"That's it. Good job, class." Eraser Head turned around. "Is there any easy way for us to get out of here?"

The workers couldn't risk Tartarus's location being exposed to the general public, so we had to walk back to UA invisible. We were all hungry after this time, and I could finally relax. I decided to take a closer look at Shigaraki's background.

Most of the files that I checked turned up empty. In theory, while I should have access to all information, I simply don't know what I don't know. There could be hundreds of pages on Shigaraki's life before villainy, but I don't know where to look.

For the rest of the school day, I let my brain run on autopilot. While I mindlessly wrote down notes, I hoped that no teacher would call on me. I run a search that would find any file that related to Shigaraki or the League of Villains. It took up much more time than I thought it would; by the end of the day, I was more tired than usual.

I only put the search aside when school was over. Some of the buildings had already begun repair, with even stronger foundations than before. I went to see that the apartment building I lived in was relatively safe. The purple tendrils had taken out a chunk of the building, which completely destroyed half of the 5th floor rooms. I went up and saw that my room was still intact. That didn't mean that I was safe forever. Taking one of my suitcases, I stuffed as much of my belongings as I could before going back to UA to stay for the night.

The construction workers had already set up around 300 beds for the students, and I picked one at the wall. When the other students slowly started to go to sleep, my search was pretty much over. The last file had a title with random letters and numbers with no thumbnail. I looked around before vanishing myself and the screen.

Turning the volume down, I saw that the camera quality wasn't that great. Faces were somewhat blurry and there was white noise all over the place. After a few seconds, the grainy texture became a bit smoother, and it was easier to see what was going on.

_Tenko Shimura walked the ten kilometers to the disappointment he had to call home. The happiness he felt at school slowly dissolved as he approached the run-down building, and he was thoroughly depressed by the time he reached the door. Letting out a sigh, he threw his backpack on the ground and tiptoed as quietly as he could to his room._

_"Tenko!" The voice was magnified by the tall ceiling of the house. He fearfully looked back, the dry skin around his eyes stretching slightly._

_His father held up a sheet of paper, and he let out a gasp. "What's this?" The paper was a form of some kind, and it had already been crumpled._

_"I-It's a form to sign me up for Quirk counseling." Tenko stuttered. "I was m-maybe wondering if you could s-sign it for me..."  
_

_His father narrowed his eyes and glared at him while ripping the form into a million tiny pieces. "No. It's worse enough that you have to attend that school, and this is just giving them another opportunity to brainwash you."_

_Tenko tried to reach out to him. "It can't be that bad, right? I need to know how to control my Quirk." Tenko looked at his hands._

_"Did you hear what I said?" He gripped Tenko's right arm firmly before launching into a tirade about how heroes were useless and would ultimately contribute to the downfall of society. Tenko tuned out everything he said and began to scratch at the scars on his neck. _This was a mistake,_ he thought. _I never should have mentioned this.

The recording cut to black, even though there was still a good thirty minutes left. I paused the video and felt more awake. Rubbing my eyes open, I tried to think about what I just watched.

Tomura Shigaraki's old name was Tenko Shimura. By rewatching the segment frame-by-frame, I eventually found his father's name on an arts and crafts project hanging from Tenko's backpack.

Kotaro Shimura... The last name was familiar to me somehow, but I still couldn't track it down. I needed to watch more of the recording before jumping to conclusions.

This camera was in a different location, and it was in an office of some sort. This room had a large bookcase on one wall, which carried impressive volumes of textbooks. Certificates and plaques covered the adjacent wall. The desk, though cluttered, still gave an impression of controlled chaos. Whoever worked here, he knew what he was doing.

_Tenko had just finished eating a snack. He noticed that the door to the office that was usually locked remained open. Looking both ways to see that no one was watching, he stepped inside._

_He never knew his father was this successful, and he was excited. His hands grabbed everything, from the books on the shelves to the computer. After he tried a few unsuccessful passwords, he kept looking._

_In the corner was an old filing cabinet. It hadn't seen the light of day in several years, and he could only access it by pushing and rearranging the other furniture. A voice in his head was telling him to stop and back away before he caused any trouble. Even so, curiosity got the better of him, and before he knew it, he opened the first drawer._

_All he found were a bunch of boring documents. Tenko looked at the first page, skimmed over it, and put it back. Looking at the second drawer, he didn't have much luck either; it was the same garbage over and over again. He slowly started to lose track of time; he was learning lots of new things about his father's job._

_There was one drawer that he hadn't checked. Squatting down, he opened the bottom drawer. It was a mess, filled with things that were either broken or served no purpose to anyone. He swept away the mounds of old souvenirs and scrap paper and suddenly stopped._

_He gingerly picked up the picture. Blowing away the dust, he saw a beautiful woman hugging a child. It took him only seconds to recognize the similarity. _That's Dad! And there's my grandma!

_Tenko was bubbling over with excitement, and he ran through the house. "Look! Look what I found!" He turned a corner, not aware of where he was going, until he bumped into someone. He fell and looked up to see his father, his face taut with anger. He snatched the picture from Tenko's hands and pushed him to the wall._

_With Tenko's face two inches away from his, he made sure that his son would get the message. "Never talk about this again." He forced Tenko's arms behind his back and pushed him all the way to the backyard. "Stay there and don't come back until tomorrow morning." The child tried to argue, but the door clicked. It was locked. As he sat on the grass, he already felt the tears streaming down his face._

I rubbed my eyes again. This was another example to show how Tomura's father abused him as a child. Remembering how present-day Tomura was violent and prone to destruction, there was probably much more evidence of this that wasn't recorded. Now that the recording had faded to black again, I didn't know what would happen next. There were 15 minutes left of footage. Running my hand through my hair, I pressed play.

_Kotaro sighed. He looked at the picture and felt a wave of guilt wash over him. His son's Quirk was... difficult. It was hard to control, and because of how he acted to him, this only ensured that it would be used for violence anyway._

_Walking back to his office, he put the picture on his desk and sat there. One by one, his relatives came to scold him for his behavior. He didn't even have the heart to look at them. "He's just a child! Parents are supposed to comfort them and keep them safe!" After several hours, Kotaro finally walked to the backyard, and he suddenly stopped short. _

_Tenko stared at his hands with a mix of fear and anger. Kotaro saw his family standing around him, comforting him. Their words were of no use. "Stop! Stand back!"_

_A high-pitched scream filled the air. When Kotaro finally looked, he saw Tenko with his arms around his wife. All five fingers were in contact with her skin, which had started to peel off. Tenko ignored this and grabbed harder and harder until her arms were raw._

I fast-forwarded the recording and only saw more blood. At one point, the father tried to intervene, but Tenko grabbed his face, and well, you can only imagine how painful that would be. I saved the file before closing my workstation. There was a lot to think about.

Shigaraki had killed his family out of pure anger, but he didn't mention anything at all about them. I guess he suppressed this memory, and I reminded myself not to bring that up when talking to him.

The only family member missing was Shigaraki's grandmother. I took a look at some of the documents that I had put away. It was a death certificate for the grandmother, and I noticed that it was dated a while before the recording's date. There's a gray area between Kotaro's childhood and Tomura's childhood, but I can only guess what happened. Kotaro was probably neglected by his own parents, and he didn't know how to deal with it.

After killing his own family, Shigaraki was alone, and somehow, someone found him and raised him to be a villain. I haven't seen that much of the League of itself and the data doesn't seem to be cooperating with me, so I can't explain that issue yet.

I looked at the time (2:37 AM) then at the alarm I set for a few hours after that before finally going to sleep.


	19. Chapter 19

Kurogiri had been flying for hours on end. It was a wonderful sensation; he was the most powerful man in the world. While his portals were still the fastest means of transport, Kurogiri still had no way of knowing whether anything was in the same place.

He started by traveling around the United States. As soon as he started flying lower in the city, people pointed at him and screamed. It was the same attack that he used before, but this time, the public were even less prepared.

As he hovered in the air, he first noticed that there were no Pro Heroes. The policemen were trying unsuccessfully to stop the masses from panicking. When Kurogiri swooped lower, he accidentally took off the rooftop of several buildings, and the debris showered over the pedestrians. It let him get a closer look at the general population. All of them were Quirkless.

He decided to play the long game. After fifteen more minutes of swooping aimlessly from roof to roof, he soared away, leaving thousands of confused people in his wake. Kurogiri decided to make a note of how fast he could travel, and once he had flown a safe distance, the purple fog retracted, leaving just himself. Even without his Quirk active, that didn't make him any less intimidating.

Kurogiri, having never been in the States before, wasn't used to how people interacted, but he knew that if he wanted to plan, he couldn't stand out like this. He walked inside an empty souvenir shop. Travelers recognized the layout instantly; tall, magnetic slabs full of magnets were everywhere, as well as the collections of cheap toys. Clothes were scattered around the store as some sort of afterthought. He picked up a hoodie, inspected it, and walked up to the counter.

"Hi, how can I help you?" The clerk was new to the job. She couldn't have been older than 16. Her smile quickly vanished as soon as she looked up at Kurogiri's face, if one could call it that.

Kurogiri didn't know how to speak English very well, so he ignored the request. Wordlessly, he pointed at the hoodie.

"Um... do you have any money?" The clerk pulled a dollar bill out of the register and pointed at it. Kurogiri narrowed his eyes and kicked himself mentally. In Japan, he didn't need money; there was simply no need. With his Quirk, robbery was no problem. He didn't want to stand out, so he shook his head.

"Well, I'll need you to return that now." Her voice was uncertain. Kurogiri ignored this and put on the hoodie before leaving the store and a very confused cashier. He reminded himself to learn English before flying away to confuse another city.

Shigaraki was useless to him. He easily overpowered the other villains that evenPro Heroes struggled to defeat. Still, Kurogiri never lost sight of the visiion. Society needed to be destroyed, and if he couldn't begin in Japan, he would do it here.

Two weeks later, the mysterious purple cloud was the only thing that people would talk about. At first, the cloud only hovered above smaller cities and was mostly harmless. As the days passed, it became increasingly violent and started to cause more destruction.

On the internet and social media, rumors started to spread faster than Kurogiri himself. Scientists ignored them and used what evidence they had, but their views were silenced by the conspiracy theorists. Several of the more extreme believers had already taken to holding large signs on the street, proclaiming that the aliens were here, or that it was about to be Judgment Day.

Recordings of the attacks reached every corner of the Internet, snd it was harder to tell if some of the footage was even real or not. Skeptics continued to deny Kurogiri's existence, saying that it was all a very sick prank. Of course, some of them changed their opinion once their homes were destroyed.

Kurogiri himself hid himself as best as he could, trying to minimize his exposure in public. He went inside a local library and printed out a list of the top 100 cities in the United States by population. As he figured out where he was, he looked at the list, generated the purple cloud, and took off. There was a lot of work to do.

* * *

Azumi Shiraseru sat unhappily as she turned off her computer. She closed her eyes and tried to relax herself, but her visions only led to one memory.

She woke up at 7:00 AM, shoved her laptop and notes into her backpack, and was ready for another day at work. When she checked on Bunseki's room, his bed was already made as usual. _He's probably downstairs eating breakfast already._

When she checked the table, no one was there. Checking the fridge and trash can, Azumi saw that no one had eaten anything since dinner. The only evidence of Bunseki was the half-full glass of water on the table. Trying to rationalize her fear, she thought that maybe he had already went to school, and so she waited. Once she arrived at work, she called his phone.

"Bunseki? Are you already at school?" Her voice was low, as to not irritate any of her coworkers. After several rings, the call switched to voicemail. She tried again several times, but there was no response.

Fingers trembling slightly, she called the school. "Hello?"

The principal picked up immediately. "How can I help you?"

"Is Bunseki Shiraseru present?" There were shuffling noises on the other end of the phone, and the principal was shuffling with a schedule of some sort.

"I'll call the teacher." For thirty seconds, Azumi waited to see if her son was safe.

"I'm sorry to tell you this, but... your son isn't at school." Azumi covered her hands and walked outside as fast as she could. "We've checked the schedule and asked all the teachers, and they've walked around the entire school looking for places to hide. They've found nothing."

"Oh my god." She sat down on the curb while the world spun uncontrollably around her. Once she regained her balance, she convinced herself that he would be back soon. Several hours later, when the students were being dismissed from school, there was still no response. Sitting down, she slowly stared into space and suddenly started to see a man in front of her. Her vision was blurry and it was hard to see any of his features, but the man appeared to be about the same age as her. He seemed to flicker in and out, and his body glowed with white light. He snapped, and a card appeared on the table.

Her eyes still unfocused, she could barely make out the words, "He's alive and well." When she tried to reach for the card, it disappeared.

"What..." Azumi temporarily lost the ability to speak.

He stepped closer and extinguished the lights before displaying a globe. He was talking, but she no longer listened. Her brain was already filled with questions. Could her son have been kidnapped or killed? What did this man have to do with this?

"...you might not trust me right now, but I know that your son will come back. Give it time." Azumi focused her eyes on the holographic picture in front of her and recognized the office building that she worked in before moving to the US. Remembering her time working in Tokyo, she slowly recalled the names of every street that she walked. The next thing that caught her attention was the people. Some of them didn't look like actual humans; they had extra limbs or ones that she didn't have. Others were floating in midair.

"Are you sure that's Tokyo? The last time I checked, there weren't any levitating people. This sounds like an elaborate prank to me. Where's my son?"

"He's right here." The man snapped again, and the image shifted from a city to a classroom. The view was much clearer than a regular camera's, and every student's face was clearly shown, along with Bunseki's.

"Why didn't you tell me that? I'll fly to Japan right now!" Azumi stood up, but the man's gaze stopped her immediately.

"This is a different Tokyo. If you fly there, you'll see that this school doesn't actually exist in this world. While it is extremely difficult, travel between the worlds is possible. Your son is smart. He'll find a way back to you."

The fight left Azumi. She slouched against her seat. "Even so, it's going to take some time, if this is his first day away. I don't want him to forget."

With another snap, the hologram was gone, and the light behind the man glowed even brighter. "He won't." A white portal appeared with quick musical notes filling the silence. The man waved his hands, and he disappeared. Half a year later, she still felt the same way she had then. Nothing made sense.

* * *

Within two weeks, Japan had completely recovered from Kurogiri's attacks. We really hoped he wouldn't strike again, but I needed more information still. "Let's pay a visit to Shigaraki."

"Yeah, but it's a three hour walk there and back." Midoriya shrugged. I thought about how to contact him. We did give him a video phone, but like everything else at Tartarus, it was shrouded in secrecy, and it was almost impossible to break through the layers of encryption.

After talking to everyone else, including the teachers, I figured that it was best to do another trip alone. Over the last month, Ares had stopped holding me for detention. He wasn't being nicer, but with everything going on, he forgot to. As soon as school was over, I found a bike and was on my way to Tartarus.

The way there was boring, but at least I would be traveling faster than I would be on foot. My mind wandered to the few issues that I still had left to think about.

Because no wanted to go back to USJ, the teachers took us to another facility that we could use for training. There's lots of new structures there, and some of them are still being built. All Might is basically making our Quirks stronger, and Tenya has the only training plan that's considered "normal."

All Might saw me standing there and watching everyone else. Kaminari was strapped to a car battery and being repeatedly shocked, Uraraka was in some sort of hamster ball that was being thrown down a hill, and Sero was making so much tape that I winced upon seeing his drying skin.

"Young Shiraseru, get to work." He clapped me on the back. I could tell that he was holding back, because I didn't go flying across the building. I ran over to Uraraka. She unsteadily wobbled once she was out of the ball, and I waited before she could regain her composure.

"Are you okay?"

She leaned on the ball. "Yeah."

"Hopefully, this won't bother you too much, but it would help if you could get me up there." I pointed to the man-made mountain, which was at least twice as tall as the one in USJ. Uraraka focused, and I felt the sensation of weightlessness as I was lifted higher into the air. Once my feet touched the ground, I gave her the thumbs-up.

After picking several possible scenarios from books and recreating them on the terrain below, I looked at Midoriya. He was always hard-working, and this time, it was no different. His body produced green sparks of something like electricity as he threw punch after punch. I started to pick up on the statistics, and I compared them with All Might's side by side.

All Might, being a Pro Hero, is more controlled with his Quirk, and even when he's using the same percentage of power as Midoriya, he produces more force than he does. Even so, there's still a pattern. There's an exponential correlation between percentage of power and force. Graphing the information of the two, even though Midoriya's increase was shallower, the pattern still existed. I pointedly waited until the end of class before finding my way down.

"All Might, I have a question." At his height, he was three or four heads taller than I was. "I'm going to be honest with you. Don't be surprised."

All Might turned around. "Of course."

"Do you share a Quirk with Midoriya?" No one was in earshot except for him. All Might lost his composure for a second. He made a series of pained grunts.

"Must... stay this way..." He was about to run away when he screamed. There was a puff of smoke, and I looked at the person who used to be All Might. He didn't look like a hero whatsoever, but I could see the similarities in his hair and face. "Well, my secret's been exposed to one more person. Can I trust you?"

"Sure."

"Okay, yes. I do share a Quirk with Midoriya. Your Quirk's data, right?" He took a moment to wipe the blood from his mouth. I nodded. "In that case..." He looked like he was about to say something, but he shook his head. "You're smart. You'll figure it out. Now I have to get back before anyone sees me this way."

I snapped back to reality. _I can't believe that I spaced out for an hour._ While I was closer, I used that time to figure out what exactly All Might wanted me to figure out.

My data is most accurate when I collect it in real-time. I compared All Might's current strength to his strength years ago by looking at clips from the news. It wasn't perfect, but enough to work. In the corner of my vision, I now had a graph of All Might's strength for every month starting five years ago. For the first four years, his strength was constant, and the lines overlapped with each other. Something must have happened before the school year started to drain his power. Though it didn't look like much, it would take another five years before his power would drop to 50% capacity.

That was a good step already, and I focused on getting to Tartarus. As the black dot in the distance grew bigger, I tried to figure out what I would say to the guards so they would let me talk to Shigaraki.

About a hundred meters away, I stepped off my bike and slowly walked to the entrance. Before I even knew it, I had several lasers pointed at me and several hundred guns. My hands were already in the air.

"On the ground, now!" I complied, and I felt rough hands carrying me inside. Instead of going to the elevator, we were carried down below to a room that would make a dusty attic look clean. There was so much dust in the air that I struggled not to cough. Handcuffs stopped me from getting up, and I could see that they were much more sophisticated than the ones usually seen in movies.

"How did you find this place?" None of the guards revealed their faces.

"My Quirk allows me to access data, and I'm pretty sure that this prison stores some, even if it's encrypted. The location might not be accessible to anyone, but I've visited it before and I can retrace my steps." It didn't help that there was a person that was writing down every word that I spoke.

"Are you sure? Recite the exact latitude and longitude of every corner of this room." I closed my eyes and imagined a copy of the room we were in. I compared the coordinates of Tartarus itself before quickly scaling them down. After I was done telling them that, the interrogator scowled. "Stupid Quirk. What do you want?"

"I need permission to talk to Tomura Shigaraki."

Arms grabbed me again, and I was too surprised to do anything about it. They brought me the video phone, and I could see static before it finally revealed Shigaraki. He was thinner than when I last saw him, and I hoped that he was still being fed.

"Hello?" Shigaraki's blue eyes locked on mine.

"Whatever it is, I'm not telling you anything."

"It's about Kurogiri, and I don't have time. Did he act strangely in the past month?"

Shigaraki removed the hand on his face, and his wrinkles were accentuated by the bright light above. "Our meetings were shorter. He means well, but he was always much more anxious when we were around. He tried to create an exit portal as soon as the meetings were finished, and he never does that."

"Kurogiri has been performing experiments in a lab. That might explain why he's so strong, but even I don't know everything yet. Have you found the lab?"

"No. We haven't." He sighed and whispered something. I listened closely and heard, "...I trusted him..."

"Where do you think he is now?"

"By the looks of it, he's probably scheming in his lab again. We were planning on launching another attack on UA, but Kurogiri took us by surprise. A little destruction is always welcome."

One of the guards tapped my shoulder. "One minute left."

I put my hands to my face and let out a deep breath. "Are you willing to give me any more information that I don't have right now?"

"No. I'm never doing that." _Well, it was worth a try._ "You're lucky that I agreed to reply. Kurogiri's now in control here. Look at me!" I looked at the guard and he held up two hands. _Thirty seconds left._ "I'm stuck here. There's nothing left to do."

The guards pulled me away from the phone while another severed the connection. "That's it?" I nodded and was grateful when I could finally breathe fresh air again.


	20. Chapter 20

Shigaraki's words still stuck with me, and I could never get them out of my head. All updates I received were shared with Eraser Head. Given how much he talks about rational decisions, I trust him to tell the facts.

Outside of school, I decided to make another excursion to be sure that Shigaraki's information was right. This time, I took a skateboard with me and that made my trip through the maze slightly easier.

This time, I could clearly see the door's outlines. Kurogiri was in a really big rush this time if he didn't bother to close the door correctly. When I stepped inside, it was like entering a paper tornado. The premise of a clean lab with neat, organized shelves was completely destroyed, and I had already stepped on several papers.

I didn't bother cleaning them up; I already had backups for that. Narrowly avoiding tripping over a wire, I walked into the particle accelerator room. I carefully touched all the equipment, and there was nothing out of the ordinary. When I put my hand over the machinery powering the accelerator, I nearly burned my hand. While fanning it over and over, I used my free hand to search for any documents that might explain this.

A handwritten note on the desk was stuck out above the rest. It was covered in messy scrawls with red circles in several places, and I picked it up. It took me a while to decipher the message, but in short, the accelerator has a cool-down. Kurogiri can somehow bypass it by using his fog, but I have no idea how he does it. Basically, for anyone else, as soon as you use the machine, it becomes too hot to use for a month.

For some reason, if you have to use it within the next month, the cool-down period becomes longer based on the day you used it. In extreme cases, the machine will overheat so much that it will stop working, or the portal that will be created will have different properties. It might lead to a new place entirely or to your death; there's a lot of grey area in this that Kurogiri didn't explore fully.

I've tracked Kurogiri before, so I decided to try it again. I closed my eyes and was able to see only the faint outlines of buildings and people. Kurogiri was nowhere to be found. Closing the door of the lab, I repeated the same process, but I did look out so I didn't run into anything. The results were the same.

If I couldn't find him here, I needed to look higher. At the public library, I found a set of stairs that led to the roof. From there, I could plot a path that would take me to the top of taller buildings until I could see the entire city.

After collecting the trash and dust that I found, I looked over the edge and felt dizzy immediately. Vertigo shouldn't be a problem, and I firmly reminded myself that I could always get out of a sticky situation. Using the dust cloud, I went to another building. Closing my eyes again, I looked for Kurogiri's outline. It wasn't visible, even though a good portion of the city was.

With every step, it was harder to control the dust cloud, which had also become bigger over time. I kept reminding myself not to look down. Given the cyclone below me, I was surprised that no one had done anything about it yet.

Looking at a worker's clock in one of the buildings, I saw that I had about two more hours before sundown. My current height was at 200 meters. I could see past several city blocks, and the cars were the size of toys. The statues below could've been action figures for their size in my field of view.

The Tokyo Skytree was visible in the distance. Its height is at 634 meters, but the top floor is only at 451.2. Height would surely help, but I'm really looking for a perspective that will let me see the entire city at once. In the middle of the school year, no one really travels here, and because of Kurogiri's attacks, the only people allowed there are maintenance workers.

Most of the buildings surrounding the Skytree were about ten floors or less, and I carefully lowered myself to the ground. I did receive some stares, but I was able to vanish as soon as their eyes left me. Doing anything is so much easier when you're invisible. The doors, surprisingly, weren't even locked, and I could do whatever I wanted.

Once inside, I confidently walked inside the elevator and punched the button for the top floor. I flinched when I saw that other people were inside, but they were too busy trying to get to their floors to notice that another person was hitchhiking with them.

After a couple of minutes, the workers slowly trickled out, leaving the top floor to myself. The view was amazing, and I didn't have to worry about falling to my death. I stopped and watched life in the city go on. People's Quirks were barely visible here, and society didn't seem very different from the world I used to call home.

The humming of the air conditioning brought me back to real life, and I searched for Kurogiri yet another time. There was no trace of him up here either. Even using those telescope devices to see farther, I couldn't see him.

Shades of orange and yellow began to tint the sky, and that was my cue to leave. Remembering that I was still invisible, I rode the 29 floors down to the lobby, and I found a bike to get me to UA. When I began to sift through records of security cameras across Japan, Kurogiri still eluded me. If there's one thing I knew for sure, Kurogiri had disappeared.

The next day, hero class distracted me from this. Iida was talking to Midoriya, and I overheard that there was going to be a class on hero informatics. With my head on my desk, I brought up a file of all hero-related laws just in case.

"You all need code names." Eraser Head didn't disappoint. "Time to pick your hero identities." He cut through the chatter like it was nothing. "Pro Heroes are investing in your potential by extending their offers to first-years like you. They watched your performance at the sports festival and placed their offers, even if it was cut short." He brought up a chart on the blackboard.

Understandably, Todoroki and Bakugo took the majority, and with powers like those, I would want to recruit them. The two had more votes than the others combined. After looking at the list, I was happy to see that I had been chosen by three people. After hearing ringing in my ears, I shut my eyes and blocked out the noise, but it wasn't a perfect seal.

"Midoriya got none?" Mineta looked over Midoriya's shoulder. "To be fair, your fighting style was pretty crazy."

"This isn't fair!" Kaminari slouched backwards.

"Silence, all of you. This is important." The door burst open and I heard another high-pitched voice. "These hero names could stick with you for life. Choose carefully!" I opened my eyes a little. It was Midnight.

"The name you pick reflects your image and tells everyone what kind of hero you're going to be. A code name shows others what exactly you represent." While Eraser Head continued to talk, I noticed that whiteboards and markers were being passed to everyone. I took mine and waited for instructions.

Midnight clapped her hands. "Who wants to volunteer?" _Nope. I'm out._ Taking a look around me, I saw that others were feeling the same way, and I stopped paying attention again. By hearing the whispers of other people, I could tell that Aoyama and Ashido went first, and their attempts weren't that good. When I suddenly heard cheering, I was instantly jarred awake. Asui showed her code name, and it gave me some ideas of my own while I kept a record of the others' names.

_[Eijiro Kirishima: Red Riot]_

_[Kyoka Jiro: Earphone Jack]_

_[Mezo Shoji: Tentacole]_

_[Hanta Sero: Cellophane]_

_[Mashirao Ojiro: Tailman]_

_[Rikido Sato: Sugarman]_

_[Mina Ashido: Pinky]_

_[Denki Kaminari: Chargebolt]_

With each new name, I felt more and more crushed. These people had noble reasons to be a hero. Kirishima compared himself to Crimson Riot and hoped to live up to his name by protecting others. What did I have to offer? I joined this school to figure out how to use my power.

I grabbed the side of my head as I suddenly saw a flash of a memory. Above all, I wanted to figure out how to get back home. I didn't even know what that word even meant anymore. If it was possible, it would be nice to see my parents in a place that wasn't just my mind.

_[Toru Hagakure: Invisible Girl]_

_[Momo Yaoyozoru: Creati]_

_[Shoto Todoroki: Shoto]_

_Really? Just your name?_

_[Fumikage Tokoyami: Tsukuyomi]_

_[Minoru Mineta: Grape Juice]_

_[Katsuki Bakugo: ]_

"King Explosion Murder!" _Classic Bakugo. Welp, that's not my problem._ While Midnight sorted this out, I kept on adding to my list.

_[Ochaco Uraraka: Uravity]_

I was done thinking, so I vanished while shuffling to the podium. "Where did Shiraseru go?"

"I have my code name." I reappeared, holding my whiteboard. "I'll be Flicker."

"Is there any underlying reason for that name?"

"No, it sounds cool." I went back to take a nap. Hopefully, I would hear Midoriya's code name before I fell asleep.

* * *

Tenya gripped his marker and recalled a moment several days before. He was in a hospital. Every surface was scrubbed so it gave off an unnatural white glow, and Tenya could hear the quiet buzzing of the fluorescent lights. The patient was hooked up to several machines. Green lines on the screen formed predictable patterns, and the constant beeping wasn't helping much. It was hard to breathe through his mask, but he didn't care.

"Are you okay?"

The patient sighed. He had a resolute look in his eyes. "I've lost the feeling in my legs. I'm useless now."

"No way! You need to go out there!" Tenya's worried tone could be felt beyond his mask.

"The hero Ingenium is finished. Tenya, look at me." Ingenium's voice, though soft, still took control of the situation.

"There are hundreds of people that you continue to inspire, brother!"

"Tell them I can't do much for them anymore. You've done a lot for me, and I'm asking you to do one more thing. Carry on my name. That's it."

In the present, Tenya's hands shook as began to write the first few letters. He suddenly paused midway. _I can't._

* * *

Midoriya was thinking hard, and he was also reliving an old memory of his.

He was barely four years old. "Mom! Look!" Inko Midoriya stopped cleaning the counter and sat on the couch with her son. Izuku was wearing an All Might hat and looked like he was about to explode with excitement.

"Let's see here... Mighty All Man, Mighty Boy, Captain All Might..." There were about ten other names in the same vein.

"Yeah!" Young Midoriya continued to jump, and there was no telling when he would run out of energy.

_These names were great when I was a kid, but now that I've inherited All Might's power, I've seen how much more I have to go before I'm truly worthy of sharing his name._ He continued to think for ten long seconds before finally stepping up.

* * *

"No... it has to be." Midoriya started to mutter before Eraser Head pointedly cleared his throat. He took a deep breath before turning his whiteboard around. The class let out a collective gasp except for me. I was thrown for a loop.

"Are you sure? You'll be called that for your entire life!" That's basically what they were saying, in one form or another.

"I'm sure. At first, I hated it, and it was just another insult. Someone told me something that completely changed my perspective. I like this now." Midoriya smiled. "My hero name is Deku."

Bakugo seemed a little angrier than usual, and I noticed Uraraka's eyebrow shift slightly higher.

That was it for the hero names. Looking at the clock, I saw that there was still about fifteen more minutes of class.

"Here are your forms. Those of you who received offers will pick from those, and the others will receive something different." Eraser Head took out a pile of papers and stacked them. "You'll be choosing to take part in an internship with a Pro Hero."

I barely noticed when I received my form, so I listened to the others.

"I'm going with Gunhead!" Uraraka had already finished, even though two minutes had passed.

Midoriya said, "Wait, aren't you more interested in becoming a rescue hero like Thirteen?"

"That's the plan, but I think that going with a battle hero will give me a new perspective on things. Plus, I need to be stronger if I'm going to be saving lives!"

Similar conversations popped up around the room, and I was about to slip out of the classroom when Midoriya asked, "Shiraseru, which hero are you planning to go with?"

This was the question that I really wanted to avoid. I didn't know what to think about this whole situation.

Over the last year, I've slowly accepted my fate. Using my Quirk, I've accommodated myself into being the majority of this superhuman world, and that was the way it was. Focusing on UA gave me something to focus on, but I never thought about my future after that. Plus, with the discovery of Kurogiri's particle accelerator, that opened up a whole new branch of science for me to study. Most importantly, it gave me a possible route back.

"Yeah, what agency do you want to join?" Apparently, everyone wanted to know where I was going. I didn't know how to say this. What I would say next would determine my relationship with the class.

"I want to go home." I winced. That didn't sound right, and to the class, it didn't either.

"That didn't answer my question."

"To answer your question, we'll have to go back in time a year. Can you all do that?" I saw nods coming in my direction. "First off, I used to live in this apartment building." I showed a holographic image of the apartment complex.

"Wait, isn't that one of the cheapest apartments to live in? Why don't you live with your parents?"

"We get there when we get there." I showed them my room. "The room that I live in was never assigned to me in the first place. I never gained access to this building until I took a look at another resident's code. My room is one of three rooms that are 'empty' as considered my the apartment registry, and as I had nowhere else to go, that's where I stayed."

"Now let's go back even further. Earlier that day, I had an encounter with the police. No, I didn't do anything illegal; I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. That's when I had to make myself known to this world, but I'm kind of grateful for that. They actually enrolled me in Aldera Junior High. Remember, Midoriya?"

"Yeah." Midoriya nodded.

"Before meeting the police, I had just appeared in this world."

"What do you mean, appeared? People don't spontaneously generate in midair." Kaminari was definitely listening now.

"I'm getting to that part. It was about 3 in the morning, and I was in my world, the one with all Quirkless people. Some guy created a portal that brought me here. If you see the files that I showed you from Kurogiri's lab, the two portals were kind of similar. Now that I think about it, there's a way for me to return home."

"That makes no sense at all." Jiro crossed her arms.

I scratched my chin. "Thinking about it now, I should have started with the portal first. Just follow the events in reverse order."

"What's your point?"

"The thing is, I might not even have a future in this world. My parents probably think I'm dead, and that's terrifying. I'm staying here mainly for the science. The more I know, the more certain I am of what path I'm going to take, and hero work probably isn't for me."

The last few words hung in the air, holding all the tension. Even Bakugo stopped writing to look up.

"So... when are you planning to leave?"

I felt a lump being formed in my throat. "I don't know."


	21. Chapter 21

Ever since my announcement, my class began to treat me as an outsider. Though I hated being treated this way, I figured it was all for the best, and I wanted to clear up any issues right away.

Rumors spread around quickly. The next day, Eraser Head asked me to stay for a few extra minutes. "If there's anything that you need help with, let me know."

"It's Kurogiri." By then, I had enough time to search every island of Japan.

"He's not going to attack again, is he? I'm not sure if we're even ready for that." Eraser Head sighed.

"No. He's disappeared off the face of the earth. I've tried looking for him everywhere, and he's nowhere to be found. Using his portals, he can't possibly travel to any other country. His records don't show that he knows any particular exact location, and he probably doesn't want to either."

"God..." Eraser Head closed his dry eyes. "What were your classmates saying about you going home?"

"TL;DR, If I can use Kurogiri's particle accelerator to get me back home, I won't be staying in this world for long." I explained the situation to him, except reversing the order of events so it would be easier for him to understand.

"Really?" His normally tired face started to show emotion. "I'm sorry to hear that. You're a good student, you know."

"Half of that's only because I have no choice but to cheat on every test I take."

Eraser Head smiled. "I forgot about that. Have a good day."

For the rest of the day, I reread Kurogiri's notes over and over again. Now, I just had to hear what others had to say about internship.

* * *

Midoriya watched as the others slowly filed out of the classroom. When he was about to leave himself, All Might suddenly appeared out of thin air. "Young Midoriya, come with me."

_What's this about?_ They stopped at a narrow hallway.

"You have an offer." All Might held up the papers. "It's from Gran Torino. He only taught at UA for one year, but he was actually my homeroom teacher."

"Why can't I train under you instead?"

"Ugh..." All Might's smile seemed to drop for a second. "You've already trained well under me, Midoriya. This internship will give you an opportunity to see your Quirk in a different perspective." His hand shook convulsively before giving Midoriya the form.

"Okay, thanks." He looked at it briefly before bidding All Might goodbye.

The next day, he started his first day as an intern by following the address on the card All Might gave him. He stopped at a tall set of front doors. Tentatively, he pushed it open to find total darkness. "Hello? I'm Izuku Midoriya, your new intern." He looked down to see an old, frail man with his head covered in something that appeared to be blood. Midoriya screamed and shut the door.

"I'm alive, don't worry!" Torino brushed off the things on the floor, grabbed his cane, and stood up to his full height of 120 centimeters. Midoriya noticed that even with the support of his cane, he was still shaking slightly.

_He's All Might's teacher, so he has to be pretty old. I didn't know that he would be that_ absent-minded... Torino started shuffling through the items that Midoriya brought in his suitcase. "Hey, that's my stuff!"

"Why don't you, uh, throw me a One for All smash so I can see how strong you are?" Torino didn't bother to look up. _Huh?_ Without another word, Torino jumped in the air at a terrifying speed. Midoriya's eyes tried to focus on him, but he was too fast to follow.

"Now show me what you've got, newbie!" Torino latched himself to the ceiling. "I watched the UA sports festival on TV. From what I could see of it, you're not using your power as it's intended. I'm surprised that you didn't get yourself killed."

Izuku clenched his fist. _He's right, you know._ He took out the costume parts from the suitcase and put them on, taking a quick glance at the user manual.

"Well?" Torino anticipated Midoriya's next attack. When he saw that it wouldn't come, he jumped in the air, using the wall to maneuver himself and deliver a kick to Midoriya's back.

"All Might may be the Symbol of Peace, but he's not a very good mentor!" Torino stopped before starting his next attack. He grabbed Midoriya from behind and threw him to the floor. _I need to think. He's gone behind my back twice..._ Feeling the power flow through his arm, Midoriya turned around and saw Torino flying at him. He winced, expecting the punch to connect.

Torino dodged at the last second. "You're still a bit stiff, aren't you?" He grabbed Midoriya's face and finally stopped his dizzying attack.

"I thought that was going to do it for sure..." Midoriya lay on the floor feeling disappointed.

"I know you're loyal to All Might, but that's holding you back. Don't let that shackle you."

"What should I do about it?"

"Think about it yourself. I'm getting lunch."

Midoriya recalled the fragments of his memories. _He called me stiff... what makes a move flexible? I've seen All Might's big punches. They're like special moves. _He whipped out his notebook and started to write. "I just need to think about One for All as being a part of me. That's definitely going to make things easier."

Over the next few days, he tried to put this knowledge into practice. "In theory, I should be able to wall-jump. I just need to alternate between applying my Quirk to my hands and feet." It was easy on paper, though he bruised himself trying to wall-jump for three hours straight during the night.

"Sir, I tried using the techniques you said, but it didn't work. I still have a lot of work to put in." He massaged his arms.

Torino shrugged. "It's your first time. Don't beat yourself up over it." He took the fried pastry out of the microwave and handed a plate to Midoriya.

"We don't have much time here. What should I focus on?"

"For one thing, how about eating first? I'll show you some more tips after." Torino cheerfully bit into the bread before wincing. "You idiot, it's still frozen! Look, with a big plate like that, there's no room for it to turn, and only one part of the food gets heated!"

"Sorry, we don't have a microwave like that." Midoriya looked at his own pastry before he had an idea. "Hang on... this pastry is me!"

"No, it's not."

"That's not what I meant." Midoriya crouched. "I've only been using One for All where I needed it and when I needed it, like flipping on some switch. Doing that slows down my reaction time and doesn't let me build up enough power."

Gran Torino's eyes widened; he didn't have to teach that part to him.

"I shouldn't be switching the power off!" Reddish veins began to appear on Midoriya's skin, giving him an unearthly glow. "I just need to use the 5% that I can and spread it through my entire body."

"Nice job, kid. That pastry analogy is kind of boring, though."

"All Might said the same and that's still fine with me." Speaking seemed to come at a greater energy cost than before.

"Good. Let's get started."

* * *

Azumi looked at the time: 8:30. Unconsciously, she had already packed her bags and walked out the door. In her head, she was still counting the days since her son had disappeared.

She worked at a normal office job, and she was perfectly fine with it. As long as all of her work was finished, she was allowed to pack up and leave early. Today, she started to do the same thing. After going past the nearly identical cubicles, she found her own and sat down.

While pouring herself a cup of coffee, she looked at the news. Looking to see that no one would bother her, she turned up the volume and listened. "We're bringing you current updates on the anomaly that is sweeping the US."

The news reporter was standing next to a map of the United States. Certain cities were being displayed with purple dots. "These purple dots are areas that have been devastated by attacks from a mysterious fog." The screen cut to a scene in Portland, Oregon.

It was supposed to be a normal day, and people were going about their business as usual. Suddenly, it began. The clouds surrounding the sun were suddenly tinged a shade of dark purple. Pedestrians stopped walking to see what was going on, and one driver, who was busy looking up, crashed into another car. Just as soon as it appeared, the clouds began to snake their way to ground level. One tendril clipped through the side of a department store, and pieces of concrete and dried paint fell to the ground.

Only one person had to run and start screaming before creating a ripple effect. Mass hysteria took control of the crowd, and Kurogiri, in their confusion, launched his next attack. The fog started to lower itself on the city, and the tops of the highest buildings started to crumble. Nothing could get in the fog's way, and the people were standing there helplessly, left to the mercy of flying debris.

She turned off her computer and went to get a drink. Something felt off, so she did a double take and took her stuff with her.

"How's your day?" The low-level coworker gave her a cup of coffee.

"Could be better." Azumi tried to keep her voice as light-hearted as possible.

After taking a sip, the entire building lurched violently. Some of the coffee spilled on the floor, leaving a sizable stain. Heads were suddenly visible from the tops of the cubicles.

"What was that?"

Azumi looked outside and saw a dark purple cloud lowering itself onto the buildings below, just like the news. "I have to go." She ran outside and got in her car before driving away as fast as she could. Looking in her rear-view mirror, she saw that she was part of the lucky ones. A purple hand extended itself from the mass and crushed the office, splitting her cubicle in half.

Other coworkers took this as a signal to move. Soon, the streets were nearly impossible to navigate. More than several accidents had already happened, and the police were doing their best redirecting people around them. Azumi had to stomp on the brakes to avoid hitting a cyclist.

"I swear, if these people don't move-"

An updraft of wind slowly gathered enough purple material to create a small tornado in the middle of the intersection. One unlucky car was at the center of it all, and the metal was torn apart like it was nothing. Some of the pieces flew outwards, embedding themselves in the walls and bouncing off of the ground. Of course, this caused even more crashes, and traffic ground to a halt.

Azumi got out of the car and noticed a bicycle leaning against a lamppost. Figuring that this was better than nothing, she pedaled her way home. There was no limit to the fog; it seemed to be another part of the horizon. Around her, chaos erupted. The air became thick with dust, and she resisted the urge to cough. Buildings were now dominoes, ready to be knocked over in an instant.

After what seemed like an eternity, she finally ran to her front door and dropped all of her books once inside. She was saved again by her house's location. Most of the damage occurred downtown, where her workplace was. Places on the outskirts of the city weren't affected as much.

It took some time before her heart stopped beating so quickly. She turned on her computer and checked the news. All of the headlines said the same thing; this was the worst attack so far.

"Bunseki, I don't know if you're out there, but I really need you back."


	22. Chapter 22

At the end of the week, the classroom was fit to burst with sound. Everyone wanted to share their experiences at the internships.

"Uraraka, are you okay?" Midoriya asked. He had a good reason to feel concerned. She hasn't been acting as laid-back as she used to be, even though that's what her name means.

"Must...train...harder..." Uraraka stood still while throwing a few punches.

"I don't know what Gunhead did, but it's working." I wanted to hear what the others had to say. "What about you, Midoriya?"

"I went with Gran Torino. He's a great guy, and I think I've unlocked the secret to my Quirk."

Eraser Head, once again, had to calm us down before class started. "Shiraseru? The principal wants to see you."

_Oh God._ I ran a list through my head of anything bad I might have done, and the list turned out empty. I remembered what Eraser Head told me about rumors spreading to teachers as well. Is this what this meeting's going to be about?

"You know where the office is, right?"

I swallowed hard. "Yeah." I could feel twenty pairs of eyes looking at me as I walked out the door.

The principal's office could have been easily confused for a living room. It seemed like a homey place to be. There was two sofas facing each other with a table in the middle and a teapot.

"Come in!" A high voice cut through the silence, and I took my spot on the sofa.

"I understand what you must be going through right now." I almost fell on the floor. I knew that Principal Nezu wasn't human, but seeing him in person was a lot different from what I expected.

"Is this about the 'going home' thing?" I unconsciously started looking for a way out.

"You're right. Why don't you pour yourself a cup?" Nezu had already taken his drink.

"Look, I don't know when I will be going home, if it's even possible. I've just been thinking of what's happening in my world, and I have to ask a favor of you, if that's okay."

"Sure."

"Kurogiri, as far as I know, is gone. He's not in Japan, and he doesn't know the exact coordinates of any place in other countries. Of course, he can't just slip through and pass through airport security; even if they can't catch him, I'll know that he's at least here. That means that he's used his particle accelerator to travel to my world."

"Is there anything else I need to know."

I put my hands together. "We need to travel to my world and stop him." Just like most things I say, this cranked the tension in the room up a few notches.

Taking a deep breath, I continued. "In my world, no one has Quirks. I was born Quirkless, and the only reason I'm here is because I was gifted one once I entered this world."

"What do you mean by 'entered?' Assuming that Kurogiri travels between the two worlds using his portals, didn't you do the same?"

"Not really. Someone forced me here, but he's the reason why I have my Quirk. Even in person, I don't think I can explain this well enough for you to understand. I don't even know if I understand this yet."

"Are you finished?" Nezu wasn't trying to be mean or anything. If anything, it was my fault for explaining this so poorly to him.

"I need your help. Everyone's Quirkless, and that essentially makes Kurogiri the strongest man in the world. It's been two weeks, and who knows how much damage he's already caused. Also..." I had a sudden flashback.

"My parents are there. I want to keep them safe."

Nezu sighed. "This is a hard decision. We need all the firepower we have. That means convincing all Pro Heroes and the students to join your cause. I'll see what I can do."

I went back to the classroom feeling even more confused than when I had first walked in. There was one easy way to get the attention of everyone in the school, but I had to make my shot count.

First off, I vanished. I didn't want to attract any more attention than what I would get from what I was about to do. Focusing as hard as I could, I projected holographic screens in every classroom in the building. I reappeared, checked a monitor, and saw that my face was now being broadcasted to several hundred students across the building. I calmed myself before beginning my speech.

There was nothing to lose.

* * *

Midoriya knew better than to slack off in class, but something was bothering him, as well as his classmates. It had been twenty minutes, and Shiraseru still wasn't back from his trip to the principal's. Nezu was a nice guy in general. What did Shiraseru do?

Mr. Aizawa's speaking was suddenly cut short by the holographic display that almost clipped through his head. Aizawa flinched and stood back to see what was going on. It was Shiraseru.

"Hello? Is this thing working?" He tapped at another display by his side before grimacing and shoving that display away.

"I have only one shot at explaining this to you all. If you're in Class 1-A, you've heard this already; if not, well, just listen."

Midoriya heard Shiraseru recount his past year, starting with the "mysterious portal" that brought him to this world. He and his classmates had already heard the same events before, but in a different order. This time, though, Shiraseru was able to make his point across. Mineta, who ignored him at the start, began to pay attention.

"You might be thinking, what's the point? We're getting there. My goal is to make sure that this doesn't happen again." Shiraseru snapped, and the screen flickered before switching to a video feed of one of Kurogiri's attacks. The landscape was foreign; Midoriya was never the best at geography, but he could tell that this was still somewhere in Japan.

For thirty seconds, the classrooms were filled with the sounds of swirling wind, screaming, and crumbling buildings. The recording then clicked off, revealing Shiraseru's face again.

"I know where Kurogiri is." If anyone still wasn't paying attention, they definitely were now. Shiraseru's eyes kept avoiding the camera, as if he was still thinking about what to say.

"Kurogiri has disappeared off the face of the Earth. He's instead traveled to my Earth. If you don't believe me, look at this." Shiraseru revealed another display that showed the particle accelerator simulation.

"This is the particle accelerator that Kurogiri has been running experiments on. If you look at these notes here, running the machine for longer periods of time will create a gateway between your world and mine. For some reason that I still haven't figured out yet, Kurogiri has become stronger because of this. For his first two attacks, he didn't go through the gate, but now, he has."

Whispering started to pop up in the classroom, and Eraser Head's gaze shut them up. He seemed to say, _We need to hear him out._

"In my world, everyone is Quirkless. I was born Quirkless. The holographic displays that are in your classrooms at this very moment may disprove that, but this Quirk was gifted to me by the same person who brought me here."

"My point is, I need your help. I can't do this alone. Kurogiri is now the most powerful man in the world, and no one's possibly going to stop him. Together, we need to take him out so he can't hurt anyone else again."

"If you don't agree with me, consider this. We're training to be heroes. We're supposed to capture villains and save the lives of innocent people before the villains are able to take them. Something needs to be done. There may have been casualties already."

"I have no way of knowing whether you agree with me or not. I don't even know if you're even listening. It just feels nice to get this out there, and you've heard my view on things. See you later." Shiraseru waved to the camera with an expression between resolution and sadness. The display flickered out of existence.

After five seconds of stunned silence, everyone suddenly began talking at the same time. Eraser Head's teaching abilities no longer worked as the students had debates on whether what they should do.

"I can't believe how selfish he's being, taking up class time like that. Whatever you say, I'm not going." Midoriya couldn't recognize the voice. He was too busy deciding on what to do himself.

* * *

Vlad King stared at the spot where the screen used to be. He narrowed his eyes. _Is this one of Class 1-A's students? Who has the audacity to interrupt everyone's class like that? _

"Everyone, stop talking." His attempt went unsuccessful.

Neito Monoma ran a hand through his blonde hair. "Class 1-A never fails to disappoint, asking us for help. We could just ignore him!" He had a sudden fit of maniacal laughter that was only cut short when Itsuka Kendo slammed a fist over his head.

Ibara Shiozaki's voice could barely be heard over the commotion. "While I don't exactly agree with his methods, he's got a point. As long as he has a plan and he knows what he's doing, I'm on board."

Vlad King turned his back to the class. This wasn't good. Kurogiri had somehow evaded the Pro Heroes for a third time. The concept of two different worlds was still a hard thing to comprehend.

As much as he wanted to tell Shiraseru off for causing a disturbance, some part of him knew that Shiraseru was right. A world where 100% of the population had no Quirk to defend themselves with was a disaster waiting to happen. He took out his phone and texted a message.

"Eraser Head, tell Shiraseru that I will only agree once he has a plan."

* * *

I sighed. I looked down at my arms to see that they had been covered with sweat. My legs shook with every step I took, and it took me some time before I arrived at the doors of Class 1-A. Mustering my courage, I stepped inside.

Whatever debate was going on right now stopped immediately as I took a seat.

Eraser Head broke the tension. "Shiraseru! You're back."

I didn't even know what to say.

* * *

AN: I have a rare opportunity to actually update quickly, and now as we're approaching the end of the story, I feel the need to finish this more. Not sure how the ending's going to work out right now.


	23. Chapter 23

Eraser Head picked up his phone and took a quick glance. "Shiraseru, do you have any idea how we're going to get there?"

"Yeah. The rest of the villains are pretty much locked up, so we just have to enter the maze and find the lab again."

"Any other steps once we get there?"

"I figured you wouldn't listen to me, so I didn't know if I would get this far."

There were a lot more problems with this than I thought. For one, I received a lot of hate from parents for pressuring their kids into traveling someplace where it was highly likely for them to die. Having made the trip myself, I can testify that I never wanted to go through it another time. I simply told them that this was my only request and I would leave their children alone after that.

Another issue was the journey itself. We're talking about seven hundred, maybe eight hundred people being crammed into the alley one by one. The hardware shop is still fully operational, and I didn't want to get in any trouble for barging in on them. Once we did get past that part, the maze was almost impossible to navigate with so many people, and staying in the lab was enough to give someone claustrophobia.

The worst part about all of this? I couldn't guarantee my classmates anything. I explained my concerns to Principal Nezu, who assured me that we could work it out together. That's how we suspended academic classes for some time to focus on high-intensity hero training. The missed class time would be made up by extending the school day for an hour until nothing was missed.

"If this doesn't kill me, I will!" Mineta, along with the rest of the class, had just finished running a marathon.

I barely had enough space in my lungs to laugh. "Jokes on me, I'm already dead inside."

The endurance and strength training seemed the only "normal" supplement that we did. Otherwise, we were all doing individual practice to improve the consistency, strength, and usage of our Quirks. Seeing Mineta peel off purple balls from his head while his scalp was bleeding made me feel sorry for making fun of him.

After scanning the building, I focused on Midoriya. He looked much more confident compared to his performance in the sports festival. The only times I saw him use his Quirk, he was completely wasted. His arms would have been completely broken, except for the fact that they weren't. He leaped in the air at inhuman speed before delivering a deadly kick to a concrete block. Pieces of stone went flying everywhere, and Midoriya was unfazed.

Reappearing next to him, I said, "Whatever I say, don't react, okay?" Midoriya looked confused.

"Do you share a Quirk with All Might?"

Midoriya lost his focus. The random bolts of green lightning that surrounded his body disappeared. "What?"

"Do you share a Quirk with All Might?" I kept my voice so no one could hear us while enunciating every word.

"I d-don't know what you're talking about." He frantically waved his hands while looking away.

"Yes, you do. I've compared the strength of your Quirk to All Might's, and it's very similar."

"How long have you known?"

"For a Quirk like mine, I'm pretty oblivious. It took me too long to figure this out."

"You haven't told this to All Might, have you?"

"I told him first."

"Actually, I didn't expect anyone to figure out my secret." For a change of subject, he added, "Have you figured out how to get, you know, there?" He made a motion with his hand resembling a person jumping over a fence.

Eventually, Nezu and I came up with a plan, but first, I had to talk to a few people in Support. The lab was very different in appearance compared to the regular classroom. Nezu advised me to wait outside, and for a few minutes, it was just me staring at a thick airlock. Suddenly, the door burst open, and I barely scrambled out of the way in time.

"Hi!" When the smoke cleared, I saw a girl with pinkish hair and a pair of aviator's goggles. "Want to see my babies?"

Before I could respond, she pulled me inside. The Support room was an unusual cross between a lab and a small plane hangar. I wasn't sure where the light was coming from, but it was bright enough for me to see the sheer amount of devices on the walls. I recognized a pair of what might have been rocket boots, a grappling hook, and another pair of goggles that I'm sure had some other purpose to it than sight.

"I'm Bunseki Shiraseru. Look, can you help me build something?"

"Sure." She took off her goggles. "By the way, I'm Mei Hatsume." I tried to remember if I had seen her before and saw a vivid image of her in the obstacle course, using her boots to pass the competition.

I pulled up a screen and scrolled through different files until I found the folder with all the particle accelerator instructions on it.

Hatsume asked, "Aren't most accelerators supposed to be circular?"

"Yeah, but Kurogiri could just use his portals and create the same kind of loop. We need something like a portal gun, since Kurogiri probably has no interest in coming back here."

There was no time to create blueprints for the portal gun, much less build it, in the time we had. I stayed after school with Hatsume, and we went through a lot of failed designs and several more explosions.

"I don't know if I can even get used to it..." My right arm hurt from breaking my fall.

"Trust me, you will. Besides, this is a great challenge!" _I wish I could be this optimistic._ "Pass me the plans, will you?"

For the next two weeks, we redesigned the prototype over and over again until finally, it worked. Hatsume fired the gun twice: first at the wall, then in the opposite direction. She tossed a penny in the entrance portal and it flew out the exit portal. "I can sleep easy again." I rubbed my eyes before jumping inside the entrance portal.

I expected everything to slowly turn white, just like I had experienced before. The sensation I felt now was much more comfortable. I smoothly exited through the other portal. There was no glitching in between, and I felt great. No nausea, no disorientation, nothing.

"Outside of what we're doing now, this thing has some serious potential."

Hatsume beamed. "See? You're getting it!"

Now that we were capable of going to my world, several Pros were assigned to each class. We would enter the maze in shifts. After entering the portal, we were given clear instructions to stay in one place. I would have to watch everyone come and go. Even if it was required of me, I did it anyway. It was my fault that I dragged them into this mess.

One Friday afternoon, the first shift went through. Every Pro Hero was given a map of the maze. If I had to leave for some reason, they could do the job themselves. I recognized Hatsume and was sure to thank her before she left. In the cramped room, I created two portals at the ends of the accelerator and let it run for about 3000 cycles. The music was so loud that I had to cover my ears.

I stepped back. "You can all go now!" The portal was about as tall as a doorway and was even brighter than Aoyama's lasers. I barely saw the outlines of people stepping in. After scanning for their outlines, I saw that the support class was already over there.

Disabling the portal normally would have meant a one-month resting period, but with the portal gun, we didn't have to worry about that. After making several trips back and forth, I finally caught up with Class 1-A.

"Shiraseru, do you have any way of knowing whether anyone on the other side is safe?"

"I've made the trip once and I wasn't killed immediately, so I was fine. In reality, data doesn't translate very well between worlds. There are so many things that could be different that things are almost impossible to predict."

Kirishima said, "Are we all going to land in the same place?"

"Yeah, Kurogiri takes good notes. He's guaranteed that, at least."

After waiting until the machine cooled down to a bearable temperature, I punched in the starting sequence and waited for about 5000 cycles. Given all the noise, I was surprised that I wasn't deaf yet. It was so bright that I couldn't see anyone at all.

Screaming into the light, I yelled, "Three, two, one..."

After the relative comfort that the portal gun provided me, I was completely thrown off. The glitches, though violent, soon faded out into the background as I was in free-fall. I felt relief as soon as my feet touched the ground.

Squinting, I saw that we were on one of the busiest streets of New York. I saw that the other classes had more or less appeared in the same location as us. Car horns cut through the silence. "Guys, you might want to get out of the road first. Follow me."

Somehow, we managed to merge together into one group.

"Where are we going?" All Might caught up to us.

"My house. We live near the outskirts of the city. Plus, I need to explain a few things to my mom."

We received lots of stares, even though no one had to use their Quirks. Those people on the street all had the same reaction. They looked up from their phones, saw the mass of oddly-dressed high school kids, then looked away quickly. Bakugo stared them back. After giving directions to those in the front of the group, I pushed my way to him.

"Bakugo, you need to chill."

"What?" His rough voice attracted some more attention.

"Okay, here's a few rules." I smiled and pushed Bakugo ahead, trying to make it seem like this was no big deal. "Don't be overly aggressive. Remember, no one has Quirks, and they've already thought of us as freaks. We don't want to make anything worse."

"That's only one rule."

"Well..." I racked my brains. "It's been a long time. I'll figure it out."

Someone in uniform stopped us. "What's going on? Is this some sort of parade that we didn't know about?"

"No. If I had to explain, we'd be here for the entire day." I grimaced when I heard my slight accent. He still looked suspicious, so I added, "Don't worry about it. We'll try to leave quickly." I craned my neck. I was kind of short, so I couldn't see everyone. Still, I made everyone invisible. In Japanese, I whispered, "I don't know how long I can keep you guys like this, so hurry."

After five to ten minutes, we reappeared and I took some time to relieve some of the pressure in my head.

"I forgot to ask. Where are we?" Uraraka was amazed by what she saw. From a distance, you could see the skyscrapers huddled together. Endlessly looping advertisements combined with bright lights made the city seem more alive.

"We're in New York. Compared to the size of the state itself, NYC is relatively small, and I live in a small suburban area right outside the city. My mom commutes to work. This is just a system that I'm used to."

The lack of people allowed us to speak a bit more freely. "We're here, so where's Kurogiri?"

"Hang on." I accessed footage from the news and predicted where Kurogiri would be. He's already struck many highly populated cities, including the area of NYC that was closest to where I lived. Eventually, I pinned down his pattern. Kurogiri visits cities in order of population, but he seems to travel to New York more often than the others.

"Our best bet is to stay here." I also found my address. For some reason, speaking became a thousand times harder. "I've got to clear up some stuff."

I had been away for an entire year, but I still recognized the front of my house with its vinyl siding and rocking chairs. I slowly walked up to the front door and knocked. Behind me, I was aware that everyone was following me.

"Hello?" As soon as I saw my mom, I suddenly forgot everything, including my Quirk and why we even came back in the first place. My mom looked different. She was still good-looking, but the wrinkles around her eyes were more pronounced than I had remembered. "It's Bunseki. I'm back."

She put a hand to her head. "No. I must be dreaming." I followed her inside.

"Come on." I grabbed her by the shoulders and tried to bring her to reality just like I had done to myself so many times. "Don't you recognize me?" At that moment, I saw a picture of me taken a few days before I left. My mom didn't recognize me at all. My hair had grown longer. Because of UA's training, I was also a bit skinnier.

She sat down in a chair and stared into empty space. I touched her face, trying again to connect with her. "Ask me one question, something that only I would know."

Her breathing was shallow and quick. "What's the code phrase we used when you wanted to leave a playdate?" Tears started to pour down her face, and I was about to do the same.

"That was forever ago." I smiled. "'I have to clean the basement.' Never really understood why you picked that. We don't even have a basement."

"It's you?" She didn't lose hope.

"It's me." I gave her a hug and didn't care that I was in full view of my classmates.

"This is so unexpected... um, what should we do now?"

"Listen... there's something I need to do." I nodded, motioning for her to look outside.

"What are all these people doing here?"

"One day, did you have an encounter with a man? The one with the holographic stuff and disappeared soon after?" Her eyes widened.

"Yeah. Does this have something to do with that?"

"Come outside. I'll show you something." I caught up with everyone else. "Everyone here has a Quirk. It's kind of like a superpower."

"What about you?"

"Mine? It was given to me, and it's really hard to demonstrate." Bakugo immediately started to fire explosions from his hands. My mom almost fainted.

"This is too much information for me to process right now. Just tell me what you need to do, and we'll catch up later."

"Have you ever saw this?" I pulled up a screen and replayed the news footage of Kurogiri attacking NYC. "Well, he's a villain. We're here to stop him so he doesn't cause any more damage."

"How do I know that you're going to be safe?"

"These people have been trained to use their Quirks for their entire lives. I trust them." I looked back and saw several people nodding in agreement.

My mom gave me one last hug, and we closed our eyes. It could have been five seconds, five minutes, maybe five sunlit days. "I'll see you again sometime."


	24. Chapter 24

I could hear the door closing shut as I joined everyone else.

"Now what?"

"I'm going to find a place for you to stay. My house isn't big enough for everyone." I scanned the area again for any spot big enough to hold all six hundred students. As soon as we were on our way again, we heard a deep rumble. I covered my ears.

"Guys, I think he's here. We don't need a place to stay." I squinted and looked through hours of footage to finally see him. I didn't know where the fog was; maybe it was so far spread out that we couldn't see it. My suspicions were correct. Soon, a purple line swooshed past us, and we had to dig our feet in the ground to avoid being blown away. In the camera's view, I saw Kurogiri fully materialize with the fog. He flew into the air so quickly that the camera footage was now useless.

"Scratch that. He's coming." I displayed a message to everyone.

"Find out what your Quirk is good for, like we did in training? Are you suited for melee combat or long range?" I couldn't scan everyone's Quirks from where I was standing.

"How are we going to get there?"

For once, I was at a loss for words. I looked around for someone to explain for me. Iida raised his hand. "We bring Kurogiri to us."

I heard several variations of "Are you insane?" before he elaborated. "This is the only way for us to take him down without causing any damage to the city."

Now that we really knew what we were going to do, I felt fear like I had never felt before. The heroes in movies went against villains like these all the time, and some of them could easily overpower Kurogiri. Even surrounded by several hundred people, I wanted to run away and forget about my past life. As cliche as it sounds, the only thing that stopped me doing that was my mom. I wanted to make her safe.

All Might whistled, a noise that rivaled Present Mic's screams. "Listen up! We're going to get his attention."

I cleared my throat. "Sir, how do you plan on doing that? He's on the other end of the city."

"Don't worry, I got this!" Bakugo thrust a fist to the sky and created an explosion that almost singed his hair.

Checking more cameras, I saw Kurogiri coming in our direction.

"Guys, this actually worked." The timer in my head kept beeping. "We have about two minutes before he gets here." That was barely enough time to discuss a strategy, and everyone had ideas to share.

"Everyone, write your ideas on the screens in front of you and I'll try to figure out the best one." Soon, I had a wall of text in front of me, and I quickly sorted through it all. We agreed to stay in view of Kurogiri before attacking.

Just then, my timer hit zero. I turned around and saw a massive purple cloud hovering over all of us. For a split second, we stared at it before it dove to the ground at a sickening speed.

"FIND THE BODY!" We scattered before the fog took out a chunk of the ground. It took awhile for me to readjust myself before I pointed at Kurogiri. I created an illusion that made him glow. Instantly, everyone knew where to attack. The air was filled by dust, explosions, and other debris. In the chaos, I disappeared to get a better view of things.

Kurogiri growled. Using his portals, he threw sharp pieces of rock. I wasn't paying attention and felt a pain stabbing through my leg. _I've been hit!_ My Quirk assessed the injury. Meanwhile, the students were just trying to avoid the flying hunks of earth. Present Mic stood awkwardly in a corner. There was no way for him to get Kurogiri without hitting anyone else.

All Might took a leap and raised a fist. Before he could make contact, Kurogiri narrowed his eyes. The fog took on the appearance of a fist before grabbing him and pinning him to the ground. A second portal appeared and an arrow came flying out. Before I knew it, my hand was extended and the arrow was now harmlessly flying a hundred feet away. All Might seemed to stare right at me before escaping Kurogiri's distracted grip.

_None of this is working._ As long as Kurogiri could see us, there was no way for us to win. The space we had wasn't big enough to fit six hundred people, let alone those with Quirks. I quickly let myself down from my hiding spot and reappeared. "Remember me?" Kurogiri dropped a hand and attacked me.

In the split second before the purple mass reached me, I recalled every scene in every book and movie that I had seen. None of them would really fit, and I had an idea. I snapped, and everything disappeared.

The Pro Heroes and students still existed. I sent a message to Midoriya: _Get everyone behind him._

It was just Kurogiri and me. The white floor, tessellated with a square pattern, stretched to infinity. All of it was lighted, but the source was nowhere to be seen. We stood just six feet away.

"Why are you doing this?"

Kurogiri chuckled. "You? You're not a threat. Stop wasting my time."

I needed to convince him to stop, or at least to keep talking. "Could you please answer my question?"

"I don't need Shigaraki anymore. You saw that. I can take him down in an instant."

"You could've stayed in Japan. Why come here?"

"You see, people there are difficult. They're specifically equipped to deal with people like me. After my first attack, I retreated and was surprised at how quickly society was able to recover." Kurogiri's fog slowly dissipated until I could see his human form. "Using my research, I found a way to make me more powerful. There was a second side effect, however. After several trials of research, I finally saw the portal that brought me here. That's also how you arrived, right?"

I tried to move and couldn't. It seemed like he knew everything about my plan.

Kurogiri laughed. His failed attempt at humor made the atmosphere colder instead. "Starting with your world, I saw that it was easier to achieve Shigaraki's goal. Society needs to be rebuilt, heroes or no heroes. The justice system is seriously flawed." His voice rose and he lost his handle on the fog. The white tiles around him were stained purple as he continued to speak.

I no longer listened to what he was saying. I kept looking for ways to understand him, and that came from the very brain itself. The results were as I expected. When I saw his brain, various parts glowed with brighter and brighter intensity.

Normally, I can't focus on memories. They're too unpredictable. Based on what we see and what others tell us, they change and corrupt over time. Kurogiri's memory was different. It was in perfect quality, and none of the details were changed. He had been focusing on this memory ever since it happened. Slowly, the real world collapsed and I was watching the world through his eyes.

_It was a sunny day at the carnival. Conversations echoed out of every ride with kids begging their parents to go just one more time. Rides were bustling with people, all eager to experience something new. Overhead, the roller coaster grappled with fifty brave souls who were crazy enough to subject themselves to several loops in a row._

_Behind the scenes, there was just as much excitement. Mechanics frantically scurried across the park fixing anything that even looked broken. Vendors were working overtime to meet the demands of every customer. One little boy, ice cream dripping from his chin, smiled as his mother picked him up. "Can I try that one? Or maybe that one!" His hands were a flurry of fingers and chocolate chips._

_"Of course you can." His mother picked him up and carried him to the balloon pop. She watched as he steadily held the dart before successfully popping three balloons in a row. He smiled as his tiny fist grabbed the keychain he won._

_"I did it!" He excitedly turned around, expecting his mother to be there cheering for him._

_She wasn't._

_He was dimly aware of people running and screaming around him. He turned his head. What he saw made him freeze in shock. Some… thing, was yelling in rage, throwing anything it could get its hands on. Everything it touched smoldered and burned. An entire refrigerator full of ice evaporated into steam instantly as an indistinguishable chunk of metal pummelled it to the ground._

_The villain finally turned its face to the crowd. Up until then, the boy hadn't realized that he wasn't looking at his face. His features were made of charred, molten rock; his teeth stood in jagged, asymmetrical patterns. And then there was its eyes. They had been reduced to red specks. He looked at them and felt the urge to run, run away, run somewhere else that wasn't in his sight._

_Making eye contact was a mistake. No one knew why he was about to be the next victim. Maybe because he was standing there, stuck to the spot? Maybe because he had no one to go to? Maybe out of spite?_

_The lifeless red specks scrutinized him. A blackened arm stretched out to grab a vendor's cart. Its fingers set the wood alight immediately while the paper goods inside shriveled and fell to the ground forgotten. The vendor screamed, his sleeve on fire from the sheer amount of sparks that were flying around. All of this happened in an instant before the cart was sent flying towards the boy._

_He had not broken eye contact once; all the while, the cart took up more and more space in his vision- pieces of wood rotted and fell apart, small details on the cart became clearer, he could smell the burned remains, impact was imminent-_

_None of that happened. All Might flew into the scene out of nowhere. Flashing his signature smile, he punched the villain with enough force to stop a jet engine. The black figure crumpled to the ground before quickly being subdued by the police._

_The same people who had been plunged into chaos just moments before emerged from the shadows, cheering All Might and praising him for the hero he was._

_"No need to thank me!" All Might's voice rang out loud and clear among everyone else's comments. "Thankfully, we arrived here before any further damage was caused."_

_The dust settled, and the boy ran to find his mother, his father, anyone he could trust. Something caught his eye that made his heart stop._

_Underneath a smoking heap of debris was his mother. Bile forming in his throat and tears in his eyes, he looked into the mask that used to be his mother's face._

_"Mom?" He barely choked the words out. "Can you hear me?"_

_No response._

_He tried again. "Mom? It's me, Oboro! Your son." He shook her head violently, hoping for some kind of reaction._

_Again, no response._

_"Please…" His voice faltered before continuing. "You told me that you would know what to do if something like this happened. I don't, so just let me know that you're still there."_

_He waited. Five minutes. Ten minutes. Twenty minutes. It finally struck him that her glassy eyes would no longer be able to see him again._

_There was nowhere to go. Numbly, he walked through the crowd. How are people still celebrating? he wondered. How are people still celebrating when lives have been lost?_

_All Might was in the middle of answering reporters' questions. "Now I'm going to let everyone describe the horrible incident." He waved, and the reporters scurried away looking for unsuspecting people to give their testimonies._

_One reporter spotted Oboro standing there and squatted down to his level. "Hey, kid." His tone was encouraging, coercing him to speak. "Can you tell me what happened here? You're already brave just to be here."_

_Oboro's eyes were fixed somewhere else. He pointed in All Might's direction, screaming. "You couldn't save my mom! You couldn't save my mom!"_

_Everyone looked at him with pity, assuming that his mother was fine and he was just shell-shocked from his first encounter with a villain. All Might nervously laughed and signaled for the police to come. They took the boy under both arms while he had yelled himself hoarse._

_It was at that moment when he realized that heroes didn't care about anyone personally and only did their jobs for the popularity. He committed himself to convince others of his idea and let them discover the truth about heroes._

This unfroze me and I could finally speak to him again. "How long ago was this?"

Kurogiri's tone became bitter. "Long enough for me to realize the truth about this world. It's unfair, and what I'm doing is giving everyone a second chance."

"By killing innocent people? By destroying entire cities? The death toll from your attacks is already above 10,000."

"As long as society is rebuilt from scratch, I'll be there to make sure it's fair to everyone."

"That's a lot of people to kill. Also, we won't let this happen." I tried to find a way to sympathize with him. "After that, did you ever go to school."

"Someone was kind enough to take me in. He shared my set of beliefs, and we kind of grew closer to each other."

"Who was that?"

"I can't tell you that, and it won't matter once I'm done with you."

I shrugged. "Okay then." I vanished before cutting the illusion.


	25. Chapter 25

The endless white plains were suddenly replaced with what you would expect to see. Rolling hills and trees slowly came back into view. Any chance of talking rationally with Kurogiri was gone. Even if I understood his past, bringing up the memory only seemed to make him stronger and more precise.

I vanished again to avoid being hit. Mineta panicked and started peeling balls from his head, sticking them to Kurogiri. The few extra seconds was enough for Shoji to hold him down. It looked like we were doing enough damage, but Kurogiri simply used his portals to send a blast of air that pushed everyone back.

Kurogiri finally looked behind him. He didn't anticipate the wave of students throwing everything they could. I recognized shards of ice, metal, and even a few boiled eggs. Kaminari took advantage of the distraction to deliver several well-timed blows to the metal covering around Kurogiri's neck.

The portals dissipated and Kurogiri massaged the part where he had been hit. Scowling, more portals started to appear from the ground.

"If you can't get rid of me, I'll get rid of you." Upon saying the last word, students screamed as they were flung in random locations.

The problem with attacking the city as a whole is lack of specific information. I knew the people who were being thrown were okay. They couldn't have been transported anywhere that Kurogiri (and I) couldn't see.

Spike reloaded his gun and shot at Kurogiri several times. The bullets made no effect. Kurogiri was fast enough to deflect those bullets into exit portals where they harmlessly flew away.

Eraser Head tried to restrain Kurogiri and was met with failure. He had to cut some of his scarf away so he wouldn't be pulled through. "Normally, this wouldn't be a problem. There's so much of us. He can knock out hundreds of people, and we're struggling to knock out one."

Todoroki sent a wall of ice, cutting off the places that Kurogiri could see. This would only delay his progress; surely, Kurogiri would have stayed here long enough to remember certain landmarks. I guess he didn't. My conversation with him made sure of that.

Only five to ten people could realistically attack Kurogiri at the same time, so most of us stood to the side, waiting for an opening to throw a projectile. I went to find the people hurled through the portals.

I sighed. There were no casualties, but several people had been injured badly, mostly because they fell on the sharp rocks on the hillside. Recovery Girl wasn't too far away. "I'll take care of this. Now make sure that you don't get hurt, okay?"

Midoriya was among the critically hurt. Being careful not to slip, I approached him. "Hey, what happened?"

"Tried to use One for All... Kurogiri was too fast for me." He tried to move and was hit with a wave of pain.

"Don't try to move. You'll get help."

"I've been able to charge up my punches a little quicker, but I was already halfway through the portal."

"What hurts more, your using One for All or the fall?"

"No. I don't get hurt from using One for All if I can keep my power at 5% or lower."

I crouched and saw the real cause of the problem. Midoriya's back had been stabbed with several arrowheads. I fought the urge to vomit. "Just wait here. I'll figure out something."

Kurogiri finally realized that his strategy wasn't working, and he flew into the air.

All Might yelled, "Stop him from going anywhere else!"

Students with wind-related Quirks created a strong barrier. No one gets in or out. Kurogiri created a sort of cyclone to defend itself, and once again, his fog obscured our vision. I don't know what this would look like to an outsider, and I had a sudden image of blueberries being crushed in a blender before we were about to be crushed ourselves.

Kurogiri laughed again. He seemed to have forgotten my conversation with him. "I'm not trapped in here with you." He created a giant fist and punched the ground, leaving a sizable crater where I used to stand. "You're trapped in here with me."

"If you have anything, strike at him now." Eraser Head distastefully looked ahead. He still couldn't use his restraining device, but for the rest of us, we didn't need to be told twice. We threw everything we had at Kurogiri. He couldn't possibly create enough fog, seeing as he still couldn't escape the wall of wind surrounding everyone.

First, I stayed back and watched everyone else. Todoroki was making the most material out of everyone so far, as well as Momo. Kurogiri was still fast. There was no denying that, but he seemed to be slowly overwhelmed by the sheer volume of stuff that we were sending this way.

After five minutes had passed, it became clear that we were the ones in control. Kurogiri tried to fling all the debris elsewhere, but he couldn't. After a single mistake, he was hit in the head, if you could even call it that, with a shard of ice. Kurogiri lost his concentration. The cyclone disappeared, and he fell to the ground.

Looking around, I saw that everyone had been fully healed. Everyone stood around Kurogiri in a circle with their Quirks fully charged. Before that, I found Midoriya and whispered, "Tell Uraraka to take these rocks and lift them into the air. We'll need them later."

"Won't Kurogiri see it?"

"Not if I make them disappear."

All Might moved to the front of the circle. "Kurogiri, this ends now."

"And what did you do? You hid behind the work of your students."

Actually, that wasn't true. There was so much stuff that was going on that I never really saw All Might. I still believed that he did his work in protecting us from some of the more dangerous portals.

I revealed myself. "I wish I could understand you. You keep repeating the same things, just like Shigaraki. If I knew how you would've felt, there might've been a chance that you wouldn't turn out like this."

"Okay, so let's say I did try to be good. Let's say I decided to be a hero, starting right now." Kurogiri paused and thought about what he was going to say next. "No one would believe me. Look at what I did. I've confused this entire country."

After checking the news, I confirmed this. All other stories that would normally hold some importance was overshadowed by Kurogiri himself. His impression didn't help either.

"I don't even know how to act like a hero. I've despised them ever since my childhood. Look, I understand if you want to 'save me,' but it's already too late for that." Kurogiri raised both arms, and fog started to concentrate around his feet. Uraraka and I made eye contact, and I winked. She put her fingers together, a movement so small that it could barely be noticed.

Before Kurogiri's entrance could fully finish, the rocks became visible again, and Kurogiri was buried under several tons of Mother Nature's fury. I scanned the pile and noticed that Kurogiri's metal bracing was snapped in half by a particularly sharp arrowhead. His heartbeat slowly decreased: 50, 42, 33, until two minutes later, when he flatlined.

"That's it, then." I nodded. The wind barrier disappeared.

"You're not coming back, are you?" Eraser Head said.

"No." I shrugged. "You guys need to get back first."

"Is that even possible? We didn't see a portal when we first got here."

"Remember, I still have Kurogiri's plans. The accelerator needs to be built first."

Instead of taking a week like I thought it would, we actually set up things very quickly. Momo received a copy of the blueprints. Knowing how meticulous she is in her studies, she recreated the entire thing perfectly. After using the portal gun, the familiar loud stream of musical notes began to play, and a white circle about two meters in diameter appeared.

I yelled, "We're going back in reverse order." The support classes filed in, one by one. I told them that they would all appear in the cramped lab and advised them to get out of the way before more people arrived. I saw Hatsume and gave her the thumbs-up before she was swallowed by the portal.

I tried to take a picture with every student. I didn't time everything perfectly, so some of them looked blurry. There wasn't anything I could do about that. I wouldn't get a second chance.

After ten minutes, it was Class 1-A's turn to leave. That left twenty students, Eraser Head, and All Might.

Kaminari said, "It's a shame. Your grades managed to top Momo's. I really could've used the extra help." He smiled before walking through.

Some classmates didn't say anything at all. I understood. It's kind of hard to think of what to say when someone you know has to leave. At least Koda signed some really nice words to me.

Midoriya was the last student to go. "Well, this is it."

I sighed. "Midoriya, I truly believe that you can be a hero. You're stronger than I'll ever be, and probably smarter too. If I were you, I would have given up on my dreams long ago."

"Thanks for that." He extended his arm to shake my hand. "Plus Ultra."

"Plus Ultra." Midoriya looked at me for one last time before he was gone.

That left Eraser Head and All Might.

"It's been a good run. With your abilities, you could've been a great hero too. Thirteen would appreciate your help in future rescues given your access to so much information."

"For now, I kind of just want to be a regular high school student."

Eraser Head cracked a rare smile. "I understand. By the way, did you cheat on the last test?"

"I always cheat." Eraser Head shook my hand before he went through the portal.

Between me and All Might, there was an awkward silence. All Might cleared his throat. "Young Shiraseru, you've done well. I don't have a lot of time and I don't know what to say to you, but I hope that you can visit us again sometime."

"I know. It's possible, but I'm not sure if I want to. No one would believe me if I told them that there was another world full of superheroes."

All Might slapped my back. If he wasn't holding back, every bone would've been broken. "Remember the lessons you've taken. Even without directly using your power, you're resourceful. You know what to do in tight situations. Even if you never use your Quirk again, just remember to apply your skills in real life. They'll be useful."

"Goodbye, All Might." I shook his hand and had mine crushed in return.

"Goodbye, Shiraseru." He disappeared in a second.

I powered off the machine, knowing full well that it would probably be moved or destroyed within the next day. I looked at the city, where repairs were already going underway.

It was nice to be back.


	26. Chapter 26

As I slowly started to space out, there was a bright flash of light, and I covered my eyes. After my eyes had adjusted, I recognized who was standing in front of me. "Hello there."

The same man who had talked with me and my parents was back. He conjured a table with two seats facing opposite each other. "Have a seat."

"How do I know that this isn't another hologram?"

"How do you know that it isn't?" He gestured for me to sit down, and I did. Despite the seat's outward appearance, it was comfortable, like sitting on the cool side of a pillow.

"Thanks. Shiraseru..." The man paused. "That's your name, isn't it?"

"Yeah."

"You realize how grateful I am for this. If you hadn't interfered, this was what would've happened." He brought up a virtual shell around us. "Make yourself comfortable. This is as close to a movie theater that you're going to get out of these types of simulations."

He snapped, and the scene shifted. The blank lines of the shell shifted to show a catastrophe beyond anything that I had ever seen. Everything was destroyed. No building two stories or higher survived. The ground was covered with rubble, as if a nuclear bomb had been detonated.

"Where is this?"

The man raised an eyebrow. "You decide." He zoomed out. Fine details slowly faded out of view before we were looking at the entire Earth. Kurogiri had become so strong that his fog could be seen from outer space.

"Had you not intervened, this would've happened." He pulled up a copy of the news dated one week from today. I picked it up. Despite being virtual, the paper was no different from a regular newspaper in every way. The headline read, "Death toll reaches 1 million as deadly fog spreads across the country."

"These people don't know it, but they've been saved." The man looked to the city, seeing the people that were blissfully unaware of the horrors that could've been. "Thank you, Shiraseru."

"I didn't even know what was going on. This entire operation was discovered by chance."

"That doesn't matter." He stood up. "Is there anything else you would like to say?"

I remembered that I still had my Quirk and used it to create paper copies of all the information I had about my other life, starting with the files from the particle accelerator and ending with the six hundred pictures that I took just a while ago. I couldn't remember everyone's names, but my Quirk had subconsciously put them on the back of every picture.

I had everything I needed. "Take away my Quirk."

"What?"

I repeated, "Take away my Quirk. I'm sure about this decision. I want to be a normal person. These files can exist only in my memory."

"What if you need to go back? Your power has great potential, you know."

"I don't know when that will happen, if ever." I suddenly remembered something and looked around. "Where's Kurogiri? Where's the accelerator?"

The man brought up a live news channel. The reporter was standing next to a picture of Kurogiri. She said, "As of now, the purple fog threat has finally been stopped. An anonymous tip has provided us with pictures. The criminal behind all of this chaos has finally been stopped."

With a wave of his hand, the screen displaying the channel disappeared into thin air. "The accelerator is in your bonus room."

"Has my mom noticed it yet?"

"I don't know if she noticed it, but you definitely will, Quirk or not." The man stood up. "If you really want your Quirk to be taken away, I can do that for you. Remember, you've lived with your Quirk for a year. It's been passively active most of the time. You are going to feel really different coming back to normal."

"That's fine for me."

The man touched my arm. I didn't know what was happening until I felt a sudden chill that started from my spine and spread throughout my entire body.

"That's it."

"No pain, nothing?"

"You're right. I'll give you some time to adjust."

Most of the time, if there was something that seemed unusual, I would scan the situation and use my data so I could act appropriately. When I looked at the city and focused, nothing happened. NYC looked the same, and I didn't know better.

I also stuck out a hand and tried to move the rocks with my mind before I laughed at the stupidity of it. Telekinesis was now impossible for me.

"Um... remember to collect your pictures and other stuff." The man gestured to the pile that was in front of me.

"I will." I tried to think about what he was going through. "Just asking. How old are you? Do you enjoy your job?"

"I'm not sure what my name is, but I've been gifted eternal youth. My job is to pick people, gift them Quirks, and send them off to the world of heroes to complete certain missions. You were one of them, and a pretty damn good one too. After a mission is complete, I never see the same person again."

"Really?"

"Really. I'll miss you, Shiraseru. Your Quirk may be gone, but don't let your memory fade either." I stood up and saw the table and chairs disappear. Everything suddenly became several shades brighter, and I had to cover my eyes. When I opened them again, he was gone.

I went back to my house. Even without my Quirk, it was easy to find. I knocked on the door and waited.

"I've been preparing for this..." My mom was whispering under her breath. She had already opened the door and didn't look up.

"I'm back." Two words was all it took. I didn't need a fancy entrance. My mom finally looked up, and she was lost for words before finally pulling me into a hug. I started to cry, now that the people that I would've been working with my whole life were now someplace where I could barely contact them.

"So, you're here?" My mom pulled me into the kitchen to sit down. "Tell me what happened."

"Before I do that, I have to let you know that I don't have a power anymore?"

"Why?"

"The same person who gave it to me could also take it away. I'm not sure if I could live with it here, seeing that no one has powers." I took a sip of water out of the very cup that I did before leaving this world. "Frankly, I just want to be a normal kid now."

"I understand. I'll be making a snack. Let me know when you're ready to tell your story."

I went to my room and turned on the computer. Opening a Word document, I stared at the blank page for several minutes. I thought of all the people who had helped me. Eraser Head. All Might. Midoriya. Class 1-B. Support. Smiling, I started to type.

* * *

Midoriya was surprised at the efficiency of the entire situation. Within 20 minutes, everyone was already back in the building. Filing into the class, he couldn't help but notice Shiraseru's empty seat at the back.

Eraser Head looked at his phone. "You guys have one hour until dismissal. I know you have been through a lot, so just chill. We can make up the academics later."

Midoriya asked, "That's it? Shiraseru's gone?" Everyone around him started to whisper. Rumors were circulating.

Eraser Head sighed. "He said he's not coming back, and if he ever did, he would arrive a changed person."

"He gave me a letter before he left. I wasn't aware of it until I looked in my pocket. I'll show it to you guys." He turned on the projector and slipped the letter under.

_To everyone that might be reading this,_

_It's been a fun ride. I've already decided to remove my Quirk for personal reasons. I don't know what to say but to thank you guys. Your work ethic is a hundred times greater than mine. The workload we do here proves that. Having entire databases to work with was probably the only thing that kept me sane in the first month or so._

_Before coming to UA, I was confused. In life, I didn't know what I was looking for. I didn't know what type of job I would get or what I would even do with college. Now... yeah, I still don't know what I'm looking for, but I'm better equipped to deal with my problems. My mom used to joke that she would be clipping my toenails once I went to college, but I can take care of myself._

_You all are going to be the next generation of Pro Heroes. Children and adults alike will look up to you, and I trust that you'll do a good job at that. That's why I'm asking you for one simple thing: Don't forget me._

_If there's ever an experience so bad that you think that it would be better if you had stayed home for the day, try to use your experience for later. One day, it will save you just like it has saved me._

_I've run out of things to say. Plus Ultra._

_-Shiraseru_

Midoriya let out an inaudible whisper. "Plus Ultra..."


	27. Afterwords

This is the end of the story. Now that I'm done, I have a greater respect for anyone that's attempting to write. This stuff takes a lot of time to complete.

I don't know when I'll start writing next. Ideas come and go, and I'll see if there's one that I can expand on.

Any constructive criticism is welcome. Just write a review, and I'll take that advice. It's hard to be a better writer when no one tells you what you're doing wrong.

Stay home and stay safe.

-tri


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